Master Of Puppets
by Apollo86
Summary: Lord Voldemort has always been a Master of Puppets pulling everyone's strings but now things are set to change. Two women are accidently thrown back into the Wizarding World which sets off a chain of events that could bring down the Master for good or leave him in control forever.
1. Dog Daze

**A/N and Disclaimer - I own none of these characters except for Amy and Carissa, the rest all belong to JK Rowling from the Harry Potter series. Story title is taken from the song and cd Master of Puppets by Metallica. Also before you read this I'll mention the following things-**

**1\. This is set before the Order of the Phoenix but in the year 2014.**

**2\. I'll say this story will have elements from the Harry Potter book series in it but is probably going to be mainly non canon.**

**3\. Electricity and other Muggle devices will work with magic in this story even though I know they don't in the books.**

**4\. I am not from England, so I apologise in advance if some of the words I use are slightly confusing and for this the chapter since I'm not exactly sure what the road rules are in England.**

**5\. I'm only new at writing so expect some mistakes and things not to be perfect. In fact I am expecting it to be pretty horrible, but its something I wanted to try. Also updates will be slow.**

**6\. I'm trying to make it different to other stories out there but if you know of one that I have unintentionally copied please let me know so I can give those other writers credit.**

**Basically if you don't like any of the above it is probably best if you skip this story and to everyone else thanks for reading and please leave a comment if you like it.**

Chapter 1- Dog Daze

It was a typical weekday for all the people living in the town of Little Whinging, Surrey. The husbands were all at work while their wives stayed at home making sure the house was spotlessly clean, catching up on gossip from the neighbours and getting dinner ready on time. Their sons and daughters were all off at school hopefully learning to become doctors, lawyers or some other respected professional. Every resident of the town claimed they had a perfect house with a perfect garden and a perfect marriage with perfect children.

At least that's how most of the people who lived in Little Whinging spent their time, however there were still some people who were a little odd according to their neighbours and these people were to be avoided at all costs.

Amy Johnson was one of those few people that lived in the suburb who the neighbours thought had always been a little strange. She hardly ever wore dresses or expensive suits like the other ladies around town did, she generally only wore t-shirts and jeans or shorts. They saw vehicles delivering takeaway most nights which implied to her neighbours that she couldn't cook and her garden wasn't kept immaculate like it should be. This behaviour wasn't acceptable by the town's standards and things were only made worse when she reported one of the local boys to the police for spraying graffiti on her fence, of course his parents believed their sweet little angel over her and after that they had started spreading nasty rumours about Amy around the town.

Amy also lived with her best friend Carissa Stewert who was the more outgoing of the two. Carissa didn't particularly care what other people thought of her, she said exactly what she was thinking, could be a bit tactless at times, had a love of tattoos and liked to show them off, her hair was cut short and was died bright blue, she liked to go out partying nearly every weekend with her workmates and was always getting home at all sorts of hours in morning. This sort of behaviour was definitely not accepted in Little Whinging and where Amy at least still got a greeting from some people if she saw them, Carissa didn't even get acknowledged.

Amy was currently trying to teach Carissa how to drive a car. Even though both of them were witches, Amy was a Muggle born and had gotten her drivers' licence years ago. Carissa however was a Pure Blood and even though she had been living as a Muggle for years now, she had only decided recently that she wanted to get her license. They had been practicing for weeks now but at the moment they were driving around the outskirts of the town not far from where they lived.

"That's it, pull the car over right now!" Amy screeched at Carissa who was in the drivers seat.

"Why, what did I do wrong now?" Carissa asked completely puzzled as to why she was being yelled at again but pulled over to the side of the road anyway.

"You nearly hit that signpost back there" Amy said pointing to a stop sign that was about ten metres behind them.

"Oh that, I wasn't that close to hitting it. You just panic too much" Carissa replied rolling her eyes.

"I do not panic too much, I just don't want a signpost through my windscreen. Our neighbours hate us enough already and I don't need anymore trouble with them." Amy snapped.

Carissa laughed "Calm down Amy, it wasn't that bad but I suppose after that reaction this is the end of lesson then?"

"Yes, now get out so I can drive us home without hitting anything" Amy answered before adding " I'm never teaching anyone to drive again, don't know why after 32 years without one you all of sudden want a license"

Carissa answered while getting out of the car "Because I hate catching the bus to work, it would make things so much easier if I could drive"

Amy just snorted as she switched places with Carissa and they started to head back home.

Amy had been driving for about ten minutes and had just turned into their street when she saw a flash of something black in the corner of her eye. Within seconds of seeing the flash, a giant black dog ran out in front of her car. Amy heard Carissa yelling as she slammed on the brakes but wasn't quick enough to avoid hitting it. Amy and Carissa both heard a loud thud as they hit the dog and saw the it laying still on the road in front of them.

Amy was just about to ask if Carissa was ok when all of a sudden, they saw the dog transform in front of them. Now instead of a dog there was a man lying on the ground.

The women couldn't believe their eyes and both sat in silence for a few minutes before Carissa finally spoke" Oh fuck, this can't be good."

"No, it's not" Amy whispered , her hands trembling on the steering wheel as she spoke.

Carissa looked across to Amy and noticed her hands shaking "Amy are you ok?"she asked.

Amy nodded her head and replied "Yeah, I think I'm just in a bit of shock that's all. It's not everyday you see the dog you just ran over turn into a man, I'm going get out and check to see if he is ok. Can you move the car into our driveway please"?

"Umm yeah, just be careful though that man can transform into animal, we don't know what else he can do. He could be a Death Eater for all we know" Carissa warned as she got out of the car.

Amy just ignored her as she copied Carissa, stepped out of the car and headed over towards the man. She had been a trained healer before she had left the wizarding world to live in the muggle world. After that she had completed more training at a Muggle University to become a fully qualified doctor so she could work in the muggle world. She was currently working at small practice in the middle of London and was fairly confident she should beable to help him even if he had any major injuries.

Once Amy had reached the man her hands had finally stopped shaking so she kneeled over him to take a closer look at his injuries. She saw that he had blood running out from a deep gash on his forehead and his long black hair had blood all through it but she couldn't see blood anywhere else on his body or any other major injuries. Once she had established that he was still alive and breathing ok by checking his pulse, she took out her wand which she always kept on her as a precaution and cast some diagnostic spells on him to check for any internal injuries. Amy knew she wasn't supposed to be using magic in a Muggle area but she was willing to risk a fine if it meant healing the wizard quicker than what she could by using Muggle methods.

"How is he? "she heard Carissa's voice from behind her.

"He is alive and doesn't have any internal injuries. His spine is all ok so we should be able to move him inside the house without causing any more damage" answered Amy.

"Are you sure that's a good idea? How about we just move him off the road and treat him on a front lawn? He could be a crazy psycho for all we know and I don't think we should be inviting strangers into our house" Carissa said.

"Actually you're probably right, it might not be such a good idea waking him up in a strange house." Amy conceded after thinking about it for minute." Help me carry him to the lawn and then ill wake up him up. I don't want to use much more magic around here, in case the neighbours happen to see it."

The two women picked up the man with great difficulty and carried him over to their front yard which was only two houses down from where they had hit him. Once they layed him down on the grass Carissa spoke "Doesn't he look somewhat familiar to you?'

'Don't think so, maybe he is just some guy you have met at a club or something?" Amy answered absentmindedly while she cast another spell to help clean up thhe blood on the man's face.

"Maybe but before you wake him up, I'm going to take his wand off him because we have no idea who he is or what he could do. He might be a serial killer for all we know" Carissa insisted as she proceeded to search the man's coat for his wand.

"How come you are so suspicious of everyone? You know not everyone is out to get you right? I'm sure he isn't a serial killer, he is probably a school teacher or something perfectly fine" Amy exclaimed, looking on in disbelief that her best friend was about to take someones wand from them.

"I was sorted into Slytherin at Hogwarts remember, I know how sneaky and dangerous people can be" Carissa stated bluntly as she retrieved the wand she was after and went to stand back behind Amy.

"Enervate"whispered Amy with her wand pointing at the man, who woke up and started coughing and spluttering .

"What happened? Where am I?" he asked as he tried sitting up.

"Woah slow down buddy, you ran out in front of my car and I couldn't stop in time to avoid hitting you."Amy replied.

A strange look came over his face "Harry, I've got to save him" he muttered and went to stand up.

"I don't think so, whoever Harry is can wait. I need to bandage that gash on your head first before you go anywhere and I've just revived you using the enervate spell, so you are still going to feel a little weak for a while yet" Amy said as she pushed him back down on the ground.

She was just about to ask why he was in such a hurry when Carissa grabbed her arm and pulled Amy behind her back.

"Stay away from him Amy, I know who he is now" Carissa hissed with two wands pointed at the man's head.

"Please don't do anything , I am here to save Harry I swear" the man pleaded and they could see the look of fear in his eyes.

"Don't lie Death Eater, you're not fucking killng us or getting anywhere near Harry today." Carissa snarled.

"Would someone please explain what is going on?' Amy interrupted since she was extremely confused by Carissa's sudden outburst and why the man looked so scared of them.

"Take a closer look Amy, take off a few kilos, make the hair even dirtier, put him in some prison robes and his face on some wanted posters. Who do you see?" Carissa explained.

Amy studied the man for a few seconds and then looked at Carissa in horror once she realised who the man was "Oh my god, I ran over Sirius Black."


	2. Sympathy for the Devil

**Disclaimer - I own none of the Harry Potter characters they all belong to J. K Rowling, Story title is borrowed from Metallica and Chapter title is taken from the Rolling Stones song Sympathy for the Devil. Please review, add as a favourite or follow if you like it.**

**Previously-**

**"Take a closer look Amy, take off a few kilos, make the hair even dirtier and put him in some prison robes." Carissa explained.**

**Amy studied the man for a few seconds and then looked at Carissa in horror "Oh my god, I ran over Sirius Black!"**

Chapter 2 - Sympathy for the Devil

"Yeah you did, now go and call Ainsley. We need the aurors here now" Carissa confirmed.

"Fantastic, how do you explain to your boyfriend that you somehow ran over Sirius Black?" Amy mumbled.

"Wait, please just let me explain! I'm innocent, it was all a set up" Sirius begged before Amy had the chance to leave. He knew that if he couldn't convince these women of his innocence soon, he was a dead man and no one would be able to save Harry. Carissa snorted then said "That's what they all say, why should we believe you? You're meant to be Voldemorts right hand man after all."

"I would never of betrayed Lily and James, if I could of died instead of them I would have. I never had a trial to prove I didn't do it and I don't even have the dark mark on me. All Death Eaters have the mark branded on them, everyone knows that." Sirius was getting desperate now and he was trying to think of something else that might help him get out of this situation "Did you both go to Hogwarts?" he asked and Amy and Carissa both nodded their heads "Well Dumbledore knows the truth about everything and so does Harry so if you send a message to Dumbledore he will confirm I'm not lying, just please don't inform the Ministry yet." Sirius silently prayed that would be enough to convince them to let him go. He could try and do wandless magic to escape but he was exhausted and didn't think he would be able to take on two adult witches with it.

Amy in the meantime had been studying Sirius and his aura around his body. This was a skill that she had taught herself, where she was able to see colours around peoples bodies to read their emotions if she thought they were lying. It wasn't a special skill, in fact anyone could teach themselves to read auras but most people never took the time to study or practice it. Amy's magic just helped make the colours more defined compared to a Muggle who could read them.

"Carissa, I think he may be telling the truth. I mean we know that the Ministry can be corrupt and I haven't trusted them since the last war when they wanted to cover up Dad's death. Plus his aura isn't showing any signs of deception, it's not a rainbow like most peoples and I'm mainly seeing black which means hatred and being unable to forgive but I'm also seeing a tinge of soft blue and a light pink which mean truth and love." Amy spoke up.

"Amy I know your spidey sense is usually spot on but what if you are wrong and we let him go? He will kill us before we can get help" Carissa argued.

"What about if he shows us his arms, so we know that he doesn't have the dark mark and we get him to tell the full story about why he is here? I'm just reluctant to involve the Ministry if he isn't lying" Amy suggested.

Carissa sighed then spoke to Sirius "Alright you will show us your arms and then explain from the beginning how you were set up, but if you try anything stupid I will send for the aurors."

Sirius nodded and pulled up both his sleeves to show the women that both of his arms were free of the dark mark. He then started to tell them his story "During the last war my best friends James and Lily Potter became targets of Voldemort. I know why they were targeted but I can't tell you the reason, Harry hasn't even be told. James and Lily ended up going into hiding under the Fidelius charm which meant their secret location was hidden within a persons soul and no one was able to find them unless the secret keeper told them. I was originally going to be their secret keeper because I had been best friends with James since Hogwarts and he was pretty much a brother to me, we even told Dumbledore that's what we were doing. However at the last minute I asked James to change secret keepers to another one of our close friends Peter Pettigrew. He had also been best friends with us at Hogwarts along with another boy Remus Lupin and we didn't tell anyone that we had switched as I was going to be a decoy. We knew Voldemort would come after me first knowing that James and I were so close but he would never think that Pettigrew was the real secret keeper, so even if I died the others would of been safe."

Amy noticed Sirius aura go completely black and saw the pain etched on his face at the mention of this Pettigrew and it was in that moment that she was completely convinced she that was right and he was innocent.

"One night I went to check on Peter at his house because he didn't seem to be handling the war to well and I wanted to make sure he was ok but when I arrived there he was missing. I couldn't see any signs of a struggle or his body and I became worried since he had told me he wasn't going anywhere and would be staying home. I rushed over to James and Lily's house but when I got there I found half their house destroyed. A sense of dread come over me and I ran inside hoping they had got away somehow but as I entered the door I saw James lying on the floor. I went over to him hoping that I wasn't too late but I was. At first I was confused, I didn't know how the Death Eaters could of known the Pettigrew was the secret keeper since I believed he would never betray us. I just sat there hugging James, begging him to wake up and stop fooling around but he wouldn't, I burst into tears once it sunk in James was really dead and I couldn't save him. It was not long after that when I heard crying from upstairs, so I ran up there as fast as could into the nursery. I saw Lily lying slumped in front of Harry's cot, the bastard had killed her too. I looked inside the cot and found Harry sitting there crying, I realised that he was okay and had survived somehow besides a scar that was on his head. I picked Harry up to take him back to my flat since I was meant to look after him if anything ever happened to James and Lily but on the way out of the house I ran into Hagrid. Hagrid said he had orders from Dumbledore to take Harry to stay at his aunts place but I tried to argue with him about it because I knew his aunt had been a complete cow towards Lily and hated anything to do with magic. You can't exactly argue with a half giant though, so I ended up giving Harry to Hagrid and lent him my motorbike to take with him. I told him I would find him later after I found Pettigrew, I had finally realised that it was Pettigrew who had betrayed everyone. He hadn't been tortured or anything, he just sent James and Lily to their deaths willingly. My anger got the better of me at this point, unfortunately as most people know the Black family are not only cold and calculating at times but also have a extremely bad temper when the ones they love are betrayed and they usually end up doing something cruel and drastic to get revenge. My cousin Andy, is the most decent one out of us all but she will still make your life hell if you mess with her or her family and as much as I hated my family and their beliefs, I still inherited most of those bad traits from them. I decided to hunt Pettigrew down, he had to pay for what he did and it wasn't going to be a nice end for him. I knew how to trace magical signatures so I was able to track Pettigrew down fairly easy and cornered him in the middle of a Muggle street but he was already prepared for me. He shouted out asking how could I betray Lily and James and pretended to be upset. Before I could react he sent out a spell blasting the entire street, cut off one of his fingers, changed into his animagus form which is a rat and disappeared down a drain. I couldn't help it, I just started laughing because he had fooled us all and we were all going to pay the price for it. Anyway the aurors and hit wizards showed up and arrested me on the spot. They threw me Azkaban without a trial, this was after hours of torture under the orders of Barty Crouch Snr trying to get me to confess to the murders but I refused to. I stayed in that hellhole for twelve years until one day Minister Fudge came to visit and left a paper for me to read. It was then I saw a picture of the rat, he was staying with another wizarding family whose kids were going to Hogwarts with Harry. I knew then I had to escape because Harry would always be in danger while that rat was around Hogwarts. I changed into my dog form and slipped past the dementors since they couldn't tell where I was when I was in that form. Noone had known that James, Pettigrew and I had all become animagus while we at school so noone thought to ward the cells to stop me from changing. I managed to find Harry at Hogwarts and tell him the truth about everything. I found Pettigrew as well but he escaped again and I haven't been able to find him since. I've been keeping in contact with Harry ever since by sending letters when I can and visiting every so often without getting caught." Sirius finished.

"Bloody hell that's crazy, I don't think you could write that shit or make it up."exclaimed Carissa. "But if you are supposed to be hiding out what are you doing here now?"

"What do you know of Voldemorts return? "Sirius asked.

"Well my boyfriend works at the Ministry so only what he tells me, which is pretty much that Voldemort hasn't returned but I also know from experience that the Ministry will cover up stuff and is corrupt in certain areas. I've never really asked him about it since I never had any intention of returning to the wizarding world, although I do remember him saying something about a Hogwarts student dying in some tournament not that long ago" Amy said.

"Well sorry to tell you this but Voldemort is back, you boyfriend is wrong and it won't take long till we are at war again. Harry saw him be resurrected by his followers and watched him kill that student just before the summer break." Sirius confirmed.

"Shit, I didn't think it was that bad" Carissa commented.

"Yes it is, so now you can understand why I am more worried about Harry now especially after I got his last letter. He didn't sound good and I am afraid he is going crack after everything that's happened." Sirius answered.

"You wouldn't happen to have that letter on you would ? Just so we can see if it backs up your story" Amy asked.

"Yeah, I do" Sirius said as he reached in his pocket and pulled it out for her to read.

Amy took it off him and started to read it out loud.

Dear Snuffles,

I don't want you getting into trouble or caught because of me but I don't know what else to do or who else to turn to. I haven't heard from Ron or Hermione all summer and have no idea what's going on after Voldemort's return. I keep having nightmares about Cedric blaming me for what happened and they seem so real. The Dursley's have threatened to kick me out if I keep disturbing their sleep with my screams plus Dudley won't leave me alone about Cedric dying. My scar has also been giving me unbearable pain lately and I've started having these visions of Voldemort but I don't know what they mean. I know you can't do much but maybe you can get Dumbledore to come and visit or give me some advice on what to do.

Please help, from Harry.

The girls took a minute to process what they had just read and then Amy spoke "So you're telling me this boy watched someone die at the hands of a mass murderer and he blames himself for it but no one thought maybe he might need some counselling and his friends to help him come to terms with it all"Amy said while shaking her head in disbelief. "Then they send him off to a family who have no idea how to help him or simply just don't care."

"I asked Dumbledore to get Harry out of there and let him stay somewhere where he has people that actually care for him but he refused to do anything for another two weeks and I don't think Harry will be able to hold on for that long . He is not a boy that likes to ask for help normally, he will try and handle things himself first so he must have been desperate to write that letter. Imagine if the Dursleys kicked him out, the Death Eeaters could get to him before anyone would even know he was missing. That's why I had to come here, I needed to save him before he cracks under the pressure of everything he has been through." Sirius said

"Shit Carissa, what do we do? I do believe his story and I can't bring Ainsley here now because you know the Ministry will act first and ask questions later plus Ainsley certainly won't risk his job to help us save a wanted criminal. We can't leave Harry with his relatives either, he is just a kid and needs help to deal with seeing Death like that without being criticised about it" Amy said as she handed the letter back to Sirius who placed it back in his pocket.

"Well I still don't completely trust Black, but we can't send a possibly innocent man back to the dementors. I think you are right about Harry too, so that leaves us with only one other choice now."

"What?" Amy questioned even through she already knew the answer.

Carissa grinned at Amy "We are going with Sirius Black to rescue the Boy who Lived."


	3. Chapter 3- The Journey Begins

**Disclaimer- All Harry Potter characters belong to J.K Rowling, I own nothing**

**A/N - In the movies Petunia's hair is dark but I'm pretty sure in the books it is blonde. Please let me know if I'm wrong and I will fix it up. This chapter is a bit longer then the others to. It will probably be the last chapter I will update until after the New Year. I would like to wish all my readers a safe and happy Christmas and New Year. Also don't forget if you like the story review, follow or add it as a favorite :)**

**Previously-" Well I still don't completely trust Black, but we can't send a possibly innocent man back to the dementors and I think you are right about Harry. So I think we only have one other choice now"**

**"What?" Amy questioned even through she already knew the answer.**

**"We are going with Sirius Black to rescue the Boy who Lived"**

Chapter 3 - The Journey Begins

Excuse me, but I thought I just heard you say that we are going with Sirius Black to rescue Harry Potter. Why don't we just let him go on his merry way?" Said Amy who at this point was quite happy to let Sirius go, so she had nothing to do with him again.

"Because we need to make sure Harry really does know the truth and that we aren't letting a mass murderer walk away with the kid he has supposedly been after all this time" Carissa said like it was the obvious thing to do.

"Hey I thought you believed me" Sirius said indignantly.

" I believe you but that doesn't mean I trust you completely like she does!" Carissa snapped at Sirius, then spoke to Amy "Look we will just go and pick the boy up, drop him off to wherever Black here was taking him and make sure it's not a Death Eater lair. Then we can come straight back home." Carissa explained.

Amy sighed "And what happens if we are caught? We have already risked enough being out here this long with him, I really don't want to end up in a Muggle or Wizarding prison. Not to mention Ainsley is going to blow a fuse if he ever finds out about this."

"Look it will be fine, if we are caught we can make up some excuse and Ainsley won't find out about this, I promise. Plus who cares about Ainsley, he is stupid git anyway" Carissa answered.

"Ainsley is not a git and you so owe me big time for this" Amy huffed.

"Whatever, I still say your boyfriend is a gigantic git." Carissa said and then spoke to Sirius "Come on up you get Black, you can sit in the back with me while she drives but I am not giving you back your wand till we get to wherever you are taking Harry. Which is where by the way?" Carissa asked.

'Its my family's old home in London, I've only just gone back there recently since I hate the place. It's the safest place for Harry now so we don't have any other choice." Sirius said standing up.

"Wait a minute, before we go anywhere I need to bandage that first" Amy said pointing to Sirius head. With a quick flick of her wand a bandage appeared over the gash that was on his head. "There now you should be okay, I ran some other tests on you before I woke you up but I couldn't find any other damage to you"

"Thanks for that and thank you for believing me and not feeding me to the dementors but I don't even know your names" Sirius said genuinely grateful towards the two women.

"No problems, my name is Amy and that's Carissa" Amy said then added "Please don't make me be wrong about you Muttley, I really don't feel like getting murdered today." as she started walking back toward her car.

"Don't worry the only people I might kill today will be the Dursley's, depending on what I find when I get to Harry." Sirius said as he followed behind Amy with Carissa walking behind him.

Once they were all in her car Sirius asked "Do you know where the Dursleys live?"

"Yep sure do, we caught their son spraying graffiti on our fence once and reported him to the cops" Amy said.

"Not that it did any good, it only made more problems for Amy and their little brat of a son got away with it. But now that you mention the Dursley's, I have an idea about what to do when we pick up Harry from them." Carissa said grinning.

" Yes, and what might that be." Amy asked as they turned a corner.

"Well if we show up looking like we do, the two of us are not going to get past their door, especially if Black here is transformed into a dog. Think about their reaction to us to and a big black dog." Carissa said.

Amy thought about it,she was only wearing a faded grey Pink Floyd t-shirt and black three quarter length pants with slip on shoes that were all scuffed. Her shoulder length brown hair was tied back in a loose pony tail but still looked messy. Carissa was fairing a bit better than Amy with a top and skirt that at least looked half decent but add a giant black dog into the mix and the fact the Dursleys hated them, they would be lucky to get two words out before the door slammed shut in their faces. Plus she really didn't want to use anymore magic, if it could be helped.

"I suppose you're right, what do you suggest we do then?" Amy asked.

"We let Black here do all the talking for us and get him to play up the mass murderer card. He can pretty much force her to let us in by threatening the whole family if they don't cooperate with us." Carissa said.

"I like that idea, I've been wanting to get back at the Dursleys for their harsh treatment of Harry for while now." Sirius said grinning.

"Alright we are at their place now anyway, we will use your plan Carissa but lets just make this quick please' Amy said as she pulled in the driveway of Number 4 Privet Drive. They all got out of the car with the two women walking behind Sirius as he went up and rang the doorbell. A thin blonde haired women answered the door and they all recognised instantly as Petunia Dursley.

"Hello Petunia, do recognise me?" said Sirius in a cold voice. "I've been on the news over the last few years and believe you haven't been treating my Godson very well have you Tunney." using Lily Potters nickname for her sister.

"Si Si Sirius Black, wh wh what are you doing here?" she stuttered.

"Well Tunney, I am here to pick up my Godson to take him away for a while. Although I seem to remember Harry not being treated very well by you the last time I spoke to him. So this is what's going to happen, you are going to let us in, we are going to go upstairs, pick Harry up and leave quietly. You will not tell anyone that we were here. If you cause us any trouble or if I find out that Harry has been mistreated in any way when I get up those stairs, little Dudders might have to have a little accident on the way home from school one day. After all I have killed before, I'd have no remorse hurting anyone who has caused my Godson harm in any form" his voice was barely a whisper as he spoke the words.

" We haven't done anything to that boy, I swear. Please don't hurt Dudley just be quick and get out of here before Vernon and Dudley come back" Petunia said petrified of the man in front of her. She could tell by the way Sirius was looking at her that he would go through with his threat if she didn't comply and she just hoped that the boy wouldn't complain too much about the way he was treated in the house as she couldn't bare the thought of someone hurting her little Dudders.

Sirius smiled and his demeanour changed instantly "I'm glad we see eye to eye Petunia" he turned around to speak to Amy and Carissa "C'mon ladies, lets go and surprise Harry.'

The three of them pushed past Petunia as they walked through the house and headed upstairs. Amy and Carissa both noticed how neat and tidy the house was. It was so immaculate it was like no one actually lived in it and it may as well just of been a showroom. "Imagine if she saw our place, she would probably would have a heart attack" Carissa commented.

"Yes, how dare we have dust on our furniture. What would the neighbours think?" Amy said pretending to be Petunia.

Sirius let out a bark like laugh "Petunia certainly wouldn't like where we are headed after this either." as he knocked and waited for Harry to answer.

When Harry opened the door, they were shocked at what they saw. The two women expected to see a normal, healthy looking boy but instead they saw very pale looking , skinny boy wearing over sized clothes and underneath his eyes it was so dark you could tell he hadn't slept properly for weeks. Even Carissa and Sirius who hadn't had any medical training new this boy was lucky to be still functioning.

"Sirius what are you doing here and who are those people with you? I thought Dumbledore would come." Harry demanded to know.

"Well I'm here to pick you up since Dumbledore wouldn't come and get you for another two weeks. It looks like it a good thing I came now though and not a minute later." Sirius answered.

"It's not much really Sirius, its just these nightmares I'm having constantly and I'm not getting any sleep because of them and I just haven't felt like eating since the tournament" Harry said not looking at Sirius.

Sirius went over and placed his hands on Harry's shoulders "Harry look at me please" Sirius ordered. Harry looked back up at the older man"We will sort it out for you ok, we can talk to Dumbledore when we get back and he will help. Clearly you are struggling to cope with everything and it is not your fault so don't you dare feel ashamed about asking for help. In fact some of it is my fault, I should of made sure Dumbledore let you stay at the Weasleys instead of here. But I promise you, things will get better alright." Sirius said trying to reassure the boy.

Harry just nodded his head and Sirius then added as he pulled Harry in for a hug "I mean look its already to started to pick up, we have too beautiful ladies gracing us with their presence"

'Bloody hell we have known him for less than an hour and he is already trying to use his charm on us" Carissa said. "I'm Carissa by the way Harry and that's my best friend Amy. She was the one who ran over your Godfather, that's why he has a bandage on his head."

"Sorry bout that but it was his fault and he will be ok. I'm a healer so I was able to patch him up" Amy explained.

"Sorry Sirius, I didn't even notice the bandage. How did Amy manage to run you over?" Harry queried as he pulled back out of his Godfathers arms.

"Long story Pup but it was my fault and these ladies were kind enough to not hand me over to the Ministry so it was a lucky escape for me. Anyway Harry do you have a trunk for your things? We probably should start packing" Sirius replied.

"I've got a trunk packed already, in case the Dursleys did kick me out" Harry replied and went over to grab his trunk and Hedwig's cage.

Once Harry grabbed his things they all made their way downstairs, waiting to bump into Petunia however she was nowhere to be seen as they walked out.

"Did you guys see Aunt Petunia when you came in?" Harry asked

"Ýes and I think I scared her so bad that she doesn't want to see us again before we go. I threatened to hurt her precious little Dudley if she caused any trouble for us" Sirius said.

"I kind of feel sorry for Aunt Petunia now, it couldn't be good seeing a wanted terrorist show up on your doorstep." Harry commented.

"Don't worry to much Harry, they deserve it." Sirius said.

"Harry you can sit in the front of the car with Amy if you want, while Sirius and I sit in the pack ok sweetie." Carissa said as they walked out of the Dursleys house and over to Amy's car.

"Umm ok I guess. " Harry replied.

"What address am I driving to exactly Muttley." Amy asked as they all got into her car.

"12 Grimmauld Place, London" Sirius said not really paying much attention to what she was doing.

Amy entered the address into her GPS system and started driving. When they reached the first corner a women's voice came out of nowhere "Turn left" she said.

Sirius nearly jumped at of his seat, "Where did that voice come from?" he asked just as he heard voice again.

Amy and Carissa burst out laughing "I forgot how clueless Purebloods are when it comes to Muggles. That voice is from this machine here."Amy said pointing her GPS system "It tells me which way I have to go without having to keep looking down at a map."

"So there's someone inside that machine? How on earth did they get in there" he asked completely puzzled. The three other occupants in the car laughed again.

"Its called a GPS and can download maps onto it from all around the world. There's no one inside the machine its just pre recorded" Amy answered. Sirius was about to ask more questions but Harry interrupted them " Why are we going to this Grimmauld Place anyway Sirius?"

"Because it has more protective wards around it then any other building except maybe Hogwarts and Gringotts. It's my family home and because they were all a bunch of paranoid freaks, they warded it with every charm they could possibly use even dark ones. The only protection I know that's on there for sure is the Fildelious charm but I also know that whoever is the Head of the Black family can't be harmed inside that house buy anyone, I remember my Dad telling me that when I was younger. The Head of House is also meant to have knowledge of how to place all the wards up and down but I'm not even sure who is the Head of House anymore since I was disowned and my brother got killed during the last war and I've never seen the Black family ring which the Head of House wears. I suppose I can tell you all the other reason for us staying there now as well since Amy and Carissa seem to believe me." Sirius said.

" We travelled all this way with a wanted criminal, risking everything and didn't turn you in. Yeah I think you can trust us." Carissa said sarcastically.

"Alright calm down, do you remember how I told you Voldemort is alive?" Sirius asked.

"Yes" Amy and Carissa spoke at the same time.

" In the last war Dumbledore formed this secret group of people to help the fight against him, which was called the Order of the Phoenix. Unfortunately last time we also had Pettigrew in the Order and because of him we lost a lot of good people including your parents Harry. Now that Voldemort has retuned, the Order has reformed with whoever was still alive from the original group plus a few new recruits."

"Do you honestly think there is going to be another war? I remember the last one but we were both still at Hogwarts when it was at its worst." Carissa asked.

"It feels the same as last time, you can feel the tension rising and it's getting to that stage where you don't know who to trust again. It is just a matter of time before they start with major attacks again. Plus unless the Ministry changes its tune about his return, I honestly don't know if we will win this time. Even though he hasn't got the numbers he had last time it wont take him long to build up an army of followers again."

"What do you mean the ministry need to change its tune." Harry asked.

Sirius sighed " I didn't want to tell you this but you will find out anyway. Since the attack at Hogwarts, Fudge and his cronies have been running a smear campaign against you and Dumbledore in The Prophet and you know what a bunch of sheep the Wizarding World is, if it's in the Prophet it must be true."

"How can they say that?, I'm not lying." Harry said angrily.

"I know Harry but the Ministry is trying to cover things up because it wants to look like it's in control and not cause mass hysteria."

Amy interrupted their conversation " Sorry to interrupt guys but we are here, except I cant see number 12 anywhere."

"That's because you have to repeat this phrase exactly how I say it and remember it. The Headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix is located at 12 Grimmauld Place, London." Sirius said.

Carissa, Amy and Harry all repeated the phrase and then saw a gap opening in between 11 and 13 Grimmauld Place and a large townhouse appeared in front of them.

"Cool, magic never ceases to amaze me" Amy said.

"Now before we go in can I please have my wand back? And just a quick warning there may be a lot of yelling going on when I get in there." Sirius asked Carissa.

"Sure here you go, I've seen that Harry trusts you." Carissa replied and promptly handed him his wand.

All four walked up the stairs to the entrance of the house and Sirius let them in. They walked down a long dark hallway which was covered in old wallpaper that was peeling off and was lit by a large chandelier and gas lamps. They all heard voices yelling from a room that ran off the hallway. "Stupid mangy mutt." another voice "I can't believe he would be so reckless especially now"' and the one that set Sirius off into a rage "Not fit to be a Godfather, he says he loves Harry like a son but clearly he doesn't."

"Sounds like you are the popular one around here" Carissa said jokingly before she realised Sirius was furious.

"Yeah just wait till I'm done with them now, it's one thing to call me reckless but to say I don't love Harry that is crossing a line" Sirius said as he stormed down the hallway with the others having to run to catch up to him.

Amy opened her mind up again to see his aura as they reached him and all she saw was black and darkness around him. She spoke to the others " This isn't going to end well."


	4. Darkness Released

**Disclaimer- All characters belong to JK Rowling except Amy and Carissa.**

**A/N -This chapter ended up being longer then I intended and also contains a little bit of violence and a lot of coarse language, I don't think it's too bad but you have been warned. This is the reason this story is rated M, I wanted to be safe with the rating. For anyone who likes this story, there will be character pairings later on but I haven't decided exactly who I'm going to pair up yet. Let me know who you would like to see together, I have a few people I would like to pair up but haven't made any final decisions yet. Also Ainsley will become more involved in the story very soon. Don't forget to review or follow the story and thanks to all my lovely readers, I hope you all had a good New Year :)**

**Previously-****"Sounds like you are the popular one around here" Carissa said jokingly before she realised Sirius was furious.**

**"Yeah just wait till I'm done with them now, it's one thing to call me reckless but to say I don't love Harry that is crossing a line" Sirius said as he stormed down the hallway with the others having to run to catch up to him.**

**Amy opened her mind up again to see his aura as they reached him and all she saw was black and darkness around him. She spoke to the others " This isn't going to end well.**

Chapter 4- Darkness Released

The three of them came to stop behind Sirius, who was standing in the doorway of a room that ran off the hallway yelling at a bunch of people who were sitting around a table inside it "How dare you, I open my house to you all and this is how you repay me. It stops now! I am sick of hearing you all bitch and whine about me and act like I don't even exist. You all forgot about my sensitive hearing, didn't you? Since I spent so long in that hellhole as a dog my hearing and sense of smell is just as sensitive as a normal dog. I've heard every single muttered insult or disparaging comment about me especially from Molly. I am also surprised at the lack of defence against these comments from the only friend I have left in this world" Sirius looked pointedly at man with light brown hair that was flecked with grey who had a lot of scars across his face.

"Sirius, you have to understand" the man started.

"Understand Remus, I understand perfectly after everything we have been through, you still won't stand up for me to anyone will you? If anyone in this room dared to try and say anything bad about you, I'd automatically jump to your defence even if I was wrong. That's what friends are supposed to do, but you still don't trust me completely do you? You have never completely forgiven me for all my fuck ups have you? You still think I'm going turn around and ruin things for everyone, that's why you never even try and defend me and are always off being a good little boy trying to keep everyone else happy!" Sirius continued angrily.

"Sirius that's not" Remus started again.

"Shut up!" Sirius was yelling louder now, he had his hands clenched in fists of rage and looked like he would lose complete control if anyone dared to interrupt him "You have had plenty of time to talk about me, It's my turn to talk about you now. Here's a news flash Remus I don't need you, I've got Harry here now safe and sound and that is all that matters to me. I'm through with all of you sitting around pretending to care or give a shit about me when you don't. Oh and dear Molly over there" he said looking at a plump lady with longish red hair "You look at me and treat me with so much disdain, I may as well of killed James and Lily. I know you think I shouldn't be anywhere near Harry or his friends but who has been the only person helping Ginny since she arrived here? Me!" Sirius paused a moment and then continued.

"That poor girl still hasn't recovered from being possessed by Voldemort. She has been coming downstairs here every night because she still has nightmares and is terrified it is going to happen again and this time she will end up killing one of her friends. You all thought after six months she would be fine and she had gotten over the experience. Of course not, that shit doesn't disappear overnight sometimes even years later the effects are still felt. You may of helped her a little but none of you understand what it's like to have darkness consume and overtake you and constantly worry that you going to end up back in that same place again. I may not of been possessed like her but I am the only person she can talk too that she doesn't feel will judge her or try to palm her off by telling her that everything is all ok."

Molly was sitting there in disbelief and had no idea what to say. She had honestly thought Ginny had been doing so much better and it shocked her to realise that her little girl had been keeping this from her for so long. Remus was sitting down starting to get scared of his friends behaviour, he had never seen him this angry, even when they found Pettigrew. When they had confronted Pettigrew, Remus could predict what Sirius would do, this time he had no idea what would make him lose control completely. Remus suspected that only James had ever seen Sirius like this and that he was the only person who would of known how to calm him down. He had heard James and Sirius talk about the Black temper before but he had never witnessed it himself.

"Now let me get to Harry. If I hadn't gone there today, that boy would be of been either in a hospital due to not eating or getting enough sleep or Death Eater food because the Dursleys kicked him out. Have a look at him for fucks sake." They looked behind Sirius and saw a scrawny looking boy with tired looking eyes and baggy clothes, a boy that didn't look like a teenage boy should. " I'm telling you all right now, if Harry had died because you were all too afraid to bring him back here early, I would personally have killed every single one of you that didn't think we needed too act right away. Only Tonks, Moody and Mundungus ever agreed with me so everyone else should think themselves fucking lucky that I left when I did. I will do everything in my power to protect my Godson and make sure he is happy. He is never going back to that place again, I don't care what anyone says. As for telling him why Voldemort was after him in the first place, I'm telling him tonight. I am not going to put him out on the frontline of this war by himself or allow him into Order meetings but he deserves to know why Voldemort went after him and his parents in the first place. He has been through more shit then any of you fuckers ever have or ever will!" Sirius said still in a rage.

"I sure it's not that bad for him there, Dumbledore knows what he is doing. You wouldn't have any idea about what is best for the boy." said a older looking wizard wearing a pointy looking red and green hat.

" Not that bad Elphias! I've seen brooms that have more fat on them then Harry. Look at the fucking bags under his eyes, that is not normal for teenage boy. Amy here is a healer and I would bet my life that she agrees with me, that he couldn't of gone on much longer like he had."

Everyone stared at the two women who had arrived with Sirius and Harry, Amy just nodded her head but looked like she was distracted by something else. A hook nosed man with greasy hair choose that moment to speak up "Potter is probably just doing it to seek attention again. This is what he always does, he is exactly like his father. An attention seeking spoilt brat."

What happened next surprised everyone besides Amy. She had been watching the darkness slowly take over Sirius entirely and already knew what he was about to do. She quickly screamed "Stop him, he is going to kill him!" but it was too late. Sirius walked across the room ripped the man out of his chair by his collar with his left hand and before the man had chance to respond Sirius lifted up his right hand and started to punch the man. There was a sickening sound of bone cracking as Sirius connected with the mans nose and blood come spurting out everywhere. The man fell backwards from the force of the punch onto the ground just as Sirius heard Amy yelling again "Please stop him, I'm not fucking joking here people. He will kill him!" but Sirius was too focused on his mission to destroy the man who had been taunting Harry for so long now that no one would be able to stop him. He kneeled on top of the man who was on the floor and threw another fist to the mans face, this one hitting his cheek. This time it sounded like cheek bone being broken but Sirius just kept punching the man wherever he could anyway. The man tried to fight back but Sirius had too much of an advantage over him "Don't you dare talk about Harry that way Snape! He is not James and you need to get over it. James was ten times the man you will ever be and Harry will be 20 times the man you are when he is older. In fact I should just do everyone a favour and end your miserable existence right now." A look of fear came over Snape's eyes as Sirius grinned menacingly. Sirius suddenly put his two hands around the man's throat and squeezed as hard as he could. Sirius could hear choking noises but just laughed at them "You were happy to send me to the dementors, happy to let them suck out my soul even though you knew I was innocent, you will never torment Harry or his friends again. You of all people should know not to mess with a Black" he hissed the last part as he squeezed even harder waiting for the life to disappear from Snape's eyes.

Sirius felt something pulling him off Snape but he didn't want to let go, he had to eliminate this threat to him and Harry now. He was suddenly pulled backwards right off Snape with quite a force and ended up landing quite heavily on the floor behind him. He sat up slowly and stayed still for a moment looking at his hands which were sore and bloody, a little confused by what had come over him. When Sirius finally decided to look up again he saw half the room attending to Snape, who was still alive but had only just survived and the other half still afraid to move from their seats but when he looked around to find where Harry was, it was his turn to be shocked. Harry and Carissa were sitting next to Amy who had her head between her knees and sounded like she was sobbing. Carissa had her arm around Amy like she was comforting her and Harry was just sitting there silently. Sirius slowly got up and walked over to the three of them "I'm sorry, I really don't know what happened. I just heard them talking and I couldn't control my anger." he said sitting back down in front of them.

Carissa looked at him and snapped "You really don't get it do you, why it hurt Amy so much to witness that?" pointing her hand at Snape who was still getting looked over.

Sirius shook his head "What don't I get? I don't understand why she would be so upset."

Amy looked up at him tears running down her face "I saw everything but didn't do anything to stop it. I knew you were going to kill him before you even started walking towards him but I didn't say anything straight away. I could of done something before you got anywhere near him but I hesitated and because of that I could of cost someone their life. I saw the darkness overtake you but didn't warn anyone until it was too late. I'm just as guilty of what happened as you are." Amy was distraught, she couldn't bare the thought she could of prevented this from happening if she had just trusted her instincts.

"Amy after what just happened, I honestly don't think you or anyone would have been able to stop me. Don't blame yourself, it would of probably happened sooner or later, I'm sure it is it was just a coincidence it happened with you here." Sirius said trying to offer some words of comfort to Amy.

Amy nodded but still didn't believe him, it was then they heard a throat clearing "I think it is best if everyone moves out of the room for a while as I wish to speak to Sirius, Harry,Carissa and Amy alone about what just happened and why these two ladies are here. We will continue this meeting a little later so please do not leave the house unless you really must" A wizard the women recognised as Dumbledore ordered.

Everyone started moving out of the room and Sirius stood up to walk over to the table where everyone had been sitting at, when he saw Remus walking over to them "I really am sorry Padfoot, please after this is finished we really need to talk about what just happened" Remus looked at Sirius his eyes pleading with his friend. Sirius stared back at him with cold grey eyes but didn't say anything he just gave a nod to indicate he had heard the man but then looked back down towards the others who were still sitting on the floor.

Once everyone was out of the room the three others got up and sat down next to each other in front of Dumbledore at the table.

"Firstly I want to say Carissa and Amy, yes I do remember your names and who you are. Thankyou for keeping calm though all of what just happened."Dumbledore spoke first.

Amy and Carissa just nodded as he continued "Harry and Sirius I owe you both an apology, I thought Harry would be safe at the from Death Eaters at the Dursleys and I never thought Petunia would treat Harry so badly. I do have my reasons for sending you there though Harry which you will find out a bit later and hopefully you will understand why I thought it was best for you to be there" Dumbledore explained.

"I was never that safe there Professor, I was one day away from being kicked out and the Dursleys have never truly cared for me anyway." Harry interrupted.

"He is not going back there next Summer either, I don't care if I'm on the run still or not, he will be staying here" Sirius added.

" As I said I have my reasons for insisting Harry does go back there but we will discuss that later after when the Order has reconvened. I will allow Harry to attend this meeting today as I believe you will tell him why Voldemort was after him to start with, even if the Order disagrees with you but he still can not be part of the Order in any other form.' Dumbledore said sternly.

Sirius agreed and said "That's all I wanted Albus was for Harry to know the truth, not necessarily be on the frontline of the war but so he could be properly prepared for another attack on him, which we all know will happen."

" I want to know now" Harry demanded wanting to know what everyone else seemed to know except him.

"You will find out Harry but not just yet. I have a few things to discuss with Amy and Carissa first, then we call the rest of the Order back in and you will find out everything." Dumbledore answered and Harry agreed to his terms.

"Very well, I would like to know how Amy and Carissa got involved in this mess in the first place, why exactly they are here and Amy I want to know why you were so affected by Sirius hurting Snape?" Dumbledore asked.

Amy didn't really want to talk about but knew there was no way out of telling Dumbledore. That man had always seemed to be able to see right through her "Well I kind of accidentally hit Muttley here with my car when he ran out in front of it in the middle of our street. Carissa realised who he was when he accidently changed from a dog to a man in front of us but he explained how he was innocent and was trying to save Harry. We decided to come along to make sure Harry arrived safe but when we got here Muttley went psycho attacking that man Snape."

"Sorry about that again, I honestly don't know what happened" Sirius apologised again to Amy.

Amy waved off his apology and continued "That was why we were here to begin with, but as to my reaction. Well, I kind of have the ability to see colours around people, their aura which shows me their emotions and what they are really feeling. Most people usually have a rainbow with multiple colours from all their different emotions however Sirius is different" She sighed really not wanting to go on because she knew they would want answers she couldn't give.

"How am I different?" Sirius demanded to know.

"You are surrounded by mostly black, I can see a bit of love and truthfulness there at times but otherwise it is completely black." Amy replied.

"What does that mean?" Harry asked starting to get concerned about his Godfather especially after what had just happened.

"Black means hatred and being unable to forgive but I've never seen anyone completely surrounded by it before and that's what scared me the most when he attacked Snape. I saw this darkness overtake him it was like it totally consumed him and wasn't going to leave until Sirius killed Snape. I saw it coming but didn't say anything right away because I've never seen anything like it before and I thought I was wrong but I should of gone with my gut instinct. I might of prevented Snape from getting hurt so bad." Amy said still feeling guilty.

Sirius was looking down at his hands still bloody and sore from earlier and yes sure he hated Snape but to go as far to kill him with his bare hands. That was something he never thought he could actually do.

"What caused me to go that far though?, I've always hated Snape but to try and kill him like that, I never thought I'd go that far.' he asked although he wasn't sure if he wanted to know the answer.

"I honestly don't know but if I had to hazard a guess I would say that the years locked away with dementors, the famous Black temper as you called it yourself, the complete loathing of Snape, finding Harry in the condition he is in and feeling used by everyone finally overtook you and you snapped. You let the darkness completely overtake you." Amy answered.

"Could I have endangered Harry at all? Could it happen again?" He said now looking at Amy who was sitting next to him.

"Look Im not a proper psychiatrist, I am just a doctor but I don't think you would since whenever you talk about him or are near him you have love show up around you again but that is also probably to do with your bond as a Godfather. From memory I'm sure magical bonds are stronger then muggle bonds when choosing Godparents and I vaguely remember reading somewhere once that a Godparent could never intentionally harm a Godchild in the magical world" Amy answered as best as she could.

"What how come nobody else knows that then? They would know I'm innocent if a bond prevented me from hurting him." Sirius was starting to get angry again.

"Not really you could of accidentally given away the Potters location or there are many others ways to accidentally harm Harry but obviously no one thought about that bond at the time when you were caught" Amy replied not liking where this was going.

Dumbledore then spoke "I do believe Amy is right to a certain degree, there was an ancient spell which a lot of purebloods used when peforming the ceremony, which is one that ties the Godparent to the their Godchild making sure the Godparent can't hurt their Godchild or they lose their magic. There is also a newer spell, one that didn't tie the two together magically because a lot of people thought they should be able to trust their Godparents enough anyway.' Dumbledore added.

"How do we know which one it was then?" Sirius asked.

"They ancient one involved the mixing of the Godparents blood with the childs blood whereas the newer one didn't. Do you remember James or Lily taking your blood at any stage?" Dumbledore asked.

"Actually I do remember it now, Lily didn't want to cut Harry to get the blood but James still wanted to do the ancient spell because he trusted it more and didn't want any arguments over whether or not I was really Harry's Godfather or not. So Lily used a pin to get a few drops of blood instead so Harry wouldn't have a scar ironically enough but with mine we cut open my hand with a knife, Ive still got that scar actually" and he raised his right hand to show everyone.

"Well that's some good news at lest, it wont be enough to help clear your name but we can keep that information handy if we ever catch Pettigrew again" Dumbledore said.

"But what about this darkness, how do I stop it? How do I know I wont get that angry again and actually kill someone' Sirius asked worriedly.

'I'm afraid I don't have any answers to that but perhaps Amy does since she is a healer and is the only one who can see the darkness around you." Dumbledore said looking at Amy.

"I honestly don't know how you stop it, I think perhaps seeing someone about everything you have been through would probably help. But I couldn't be sure, noone has ever escaped Azkaban before so we don't really know the long term effects of dementors on an innocent person. I also think maybe more research into auras needs to be done to see exactly why the darkness is so intent on overtaking you or why you are more susceptible to the darkness but I am pretty sure it all has to be related somehow and the best bet would be talking over everything with a trained professional." Amy suggested.

This was too much for Sirius he stood up and started yelling at Amy "How the fuck am I supposed to do that? I can't just walk into St Mungos and go look I am actually innocent and I need help because my brain is fried from the dementors and someone thinks I have this darkness overtaking me. If you haven't realised there is not lot of places I can go to get some fucking help."

Amy jumed up and spat back at him "How the fuck should I know alright? Don't take your shit out on me. I'm just trying to help you and Harry by telling you what I see, if you don't like it, tough luck. I've just had a fucking bad day myself alright, I've ran over a mass murder, kidnapped the boy who lived, saw someone almost get murdered, am waiting on a fine from the Ministry for all the magic I used healing you and somehow have to keep all of this from my boyfriend! So you know what, fuck you! I am out of here, I've done what I had to, you can sort this out yourself because I'm too old for this shit!" Amy turned to storm out completely forgetting about Carissa when a bird suddenly came flying into the room and collided straight into her face making her scream "Mother fucker!" as she almost fell over backwards but managed to balance herself in time.

Amy then heard Carissa laughing and turned around to her friend "What are you laughing at?"

"Not only that you just used a quote from a movie, but the timing of that bird flying in was brilliant" Carissa replied still laughing.

"Yeah yeah, keep laughing" Amy muttered as she opened up her letter "Great well here is that fine from the Ministry, lucky I still keep some money in my Gringotts account. Are you coming Carissa? I want to go home." she said as she started heading back out towards the door.

"Wait a minute please Amy. I've got an idea to help Sirius and Harry but I need your help and I'm sure Carissa will want to help as well." Dumbledore said.

Amy looked at him as she turned back around. "Go on what is your idea then?"

"Well as you know Sirius can't exactly get help for what is going on and we can't trust just anyone with Harry either. So I was thinking perhaps you two ladies would be willing to help us out?" Dumbledore asked hopefully.

"Are you sure that absolutely no one else can do it?" Carissa asked not sure if she wanted to get involved any further.

"It's becoming harder and harder to trust anyone now but you pair have shown by being here today a willingness to help when it is needed the most, even risking your lives for it. I believe Amy is the best person to help both Sirius and Harry at the moment and I know you won't let Amy come back here without you Carissa." Dumbledore answered.

Amy and Carissa just stared at Dumbledore surprised at what he had just said. Dumbledore continued "So what I am asking is, would you be willing to risk everything again to re enter the Wizarding World and help us at all?'

**A/N- That's the end of the chapter and the movie quote was from Lethal Weapon. Until next time, stay safe.**


	5. Time to Decide

**A/N- All characters belong to J.K Rowling**

**Previously- Amy and Carissa just stared at Dumbledore surprised at what he had just said. Dumbledore continued "So what I am asking is, would you be willing to risk everything again to re enter the Wizarding World and help us at all?"**

Chapter 5- Time to Decide

"No." Amy and Carissa said at the same time. Dumbledore looked a little taken aback but collected himself quickly "May I ask why you have both answered no?"

Amy walked back over to the table and sat down again "Because I can't just up and leave my job, which is probably what I would need to do since I wouldn't have time to come here everyday otherwise. Plus with Carissa working at a pub, we usually work opposite hours to each other so we wouldn't be able to come here together that often anyway. Most importantly I will not lie to Ainsley, I've been with him for nearly a year now and he trusts me and I trust him. It doesn't help that he is second in charge of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement and wants to take over from Amelia Bones one day either. You tell me how am I supposed to keep all this a secret from him?" Amy demanded.

"I agree with Amy. As much as I detest Ainsley, Amy loves him and I know that it would kill her to keep things hidden from him. That's not Amy, she is one of the most loyal and faithful people I know and I won't have her crack under the stress of having to keep this from him just to protect some stranger." Carissa added.

Dumbledore stared at the two ladies for a moment, both of them feeling like he was somehow trying to figure them out. "Amy, I understand that you don't want to lie to Ainsley and Carissa that you will follow Amy no matter what her decision but what if we could come to an agreement that basically involves telling Ainsley most of this but not quite all the facts."

"I don't know, I still have a bad feeling about this. This seems like we are heading into a grey area here but go on." Amy replied unsure of where Dumbledore was heading with the matter.

"Unfortunately our Muggle Studies teacher has gone missing recently and we have no one to replace her. However I believe that you two ladies would be the perfect candidates for the job. Amy you know about the struggles Muggles face in the Wizarding World and that they are only going to get worse now that Voldemort is back and Carissa you can explain to the children how you have managed to adapt to the Muggle world so well, even after being born into a pure blood family. If you were to have a job in the Wizarding world, it would give you a reason for being here and you wouldn't have to mention anything about Sirius to Ainsley."

Dumbledore paused for a second and continued "I would like to offer you both the Muggle Studies position at Hogwarts since I think you both will do a fantastic job. As your classes are electives, you would only be teaching 3 days a week as not many students have chosen to take the subject this year. I would allow you both to floo in to my office on the mornings you are working and then after dinner you could floo back here. Ï already checked when the Order first started coming here, this floo isn't monitored and doesn't show up on the Floo Network Authority records as ever being connected. I don't know how or why but a Black ancestor found away around the system and was able to connect it without the Ministry knowing. You will been fine travelling between Hogwarts and here but we won't risk you travelling anywhere else. You could spend whatever time you need here with Sirius on your days off and then return to your own house if you wish. On Wednesdays you only have a half day of lessons so you could organise a time to talk to Harry about his issues although I don't think he will need as much counselling as Sirius does."

"Oh yes let's tell everyone about me being crazy and needing help, I'm sure Snivellus will have a field day with that." Sirius muttered angrily.

"And what about the fact that we have no idea about teaching. Amy is used to being around children since she is a doctor but I work in pub, I have no clue what to do with kids. I am used to sports talk, gambling, drinking and swearing. I can't promise I wouldn't accidentally drop a few swear words in class and I'm pretty sure that's not professional for a teacher." Carissa argued.

"There's no need to tell anyone about you or Harry receiving counselling,Sirius. I'm sure that you and Amy could figure out a way to be discreet about your sessions and once Harry is at school, if anyone asks he could just tell people Amy is helping him out with some class work since the other teachers are too busy. Carissa, I'm sure you will adjust well, if you could just refrain from cursing to the best of your ability then you will be fine and I'm sure Amy will remind you of what is appropriate for children's ears. Now to answer the fact about you both not teaching before. Remus Lupin who currently lives here with Sirius used to be our Defense teacher at Hogwarts, he would be able to give you advice on lesson plans and handling the children. I would also suggest that you two both move in here permanently for the next two weeks before school starts to make it easier for you to adapt back into our world. I would also like you to attend Order meetings from now on so you know the truth about what is happening in the world now." Dumbledore continued to try and convince both ladies.

"I don't know if I even want Remus living here anymore, let alone him knowing about me going crazy. If he stays here, he is going to figure out something is going on with Amy and I." Sirius said.

"I know you are upset at everyone Sirius but please do try and remember most of the people in the Order do really care about you including Remus. At least hear him out, after all with the way things are heading we need to hold onto our friendships as long as possible especially when you both have been through so much together already. Remus won't tell anyone about you getting help or even joke about, in fact I'll think you will find he will be very supportive and certainly won't judge you for it. Please give him a chance." Dumbledore replied.

"I'm still not sure Dumbledore, this sounds kind of risky anyway." Amy interjected.

"Amy, can you honestly say if you walked away now and didn't help, that you wouldn't feel guilty about it? You took an oath Amy, to protect and heal anyone who needed help no matter what gender, race, religion, or political agenda. What happens if you walk away now and something happens to Sirius or Harry? Can you live the consequences of your actions?" Dumbledore pushed.

Amy knew that he had her there, there was no way she could walk away from an innocent man who so obviously needed help. Amy could justify telling a little lie to Ainsley but she couldn't justify walking away when it was clear this man needed her. Amy hated being torn like this, where her head was screaming to walk away but her heart was telling her she couldn't leave now and forgot about Sirius and Harry.

Carissa looked at her best friend and she could tell Amy was battling internally about what to do, after nearly 20 years of friendship she could read Amy like a book "Amy, I'll have your back no matter what ok." she said offering encouragement to her friend. Amy nodded her head and after a minute spoke to Dumbledore.

"Ok we accept, the position at Hogwarts and I will help Sirius and Harry to the best of my ability but I can't guarantee anything. However we can also leave at any time if I find it too hard to keep the visits to Grimmauld Place a secret. We still have to hand in our notice at our old jobs to let them know we are leaving but we can work out lessons plans and sessions with Sirius and Harry around our work hours easily enough."

"Well I'm glad that matter is settled. Amy and Carissa welcome to the Order of the Phoenix and congratulations on your new appointment as Muggle Studies teachers at Hogwarts." Dumbledore said smiling at them.

"Now on to more important matters, Harry I believe you have been having very bad nightmares lately that have been keeping you up all night."

"Yes Professor, they have mainly been about Cedric dying and blaming me for his death but lately I seem to be having realistic ones about Voldemort. It is like I'm there in his head and can feel his feelings, if that makes any sense. Plus my scar feels like its ready to explode at times and I want to scream in agony." Harry explained as best he could.

"Fuck, that must be scary as shit being in that mans head." Carissa accidentally said out loud.

"Language please Carissa." Dumbledore reprimanded.

"Sorry, my bad. Please continue."

"Harry I think I know what is causing you to have these dreams but I need to look into it further before I give you any advice. For now we will start with you talking things over with Amy about what happened with Cedric so you can find some closure after his death. If the dreams of Voldemort get worse I want you to inform someone right away but for now we don't need to worry too much about them." said Dumbledore

Harry seemed a little disappointed but just said "Okay Professor."

"What about James and Lily, Dumbledore? You promised Harry that you would tell him." Sirius asked somewhat impatiently.

"I did and I will keep my promise but Harry you must understand that we cannot tell you everything just yet." Dumbledore replied.

Harry and Sirius went to protest but Dumbledore held up his hand "Harry the reason your parents went into hiding was because of a prophecy. This prophecy was overheard by one of Voldemorts followers as it was being told to me during the last war and it was this that started the events that led to your parents deaths. Voldemort only heard the first part though, he never heard the whole prophecy and we still need to keep him from finding out the rest. Although there is a copy of the entire prophecy on record at the Ministry,we have had members of the Order guarding it since his return. I cannot not tell you what the prophecy said as it is too dangerous at the moment for you to know Harry."

"Could I find out soon what is said in it Professor? I really want to know." Harry asked hopefully.

"I believe now is not the best time for you to be worrying about it Harry and if you were to find out somehow and Voldemort did happen to capture you again, he could easily read your mind to find out what it says. Voldemort is a strong and dangerous wizard Harry, there a few in this world that can stop him from reading their minds." Dumbledore answered.

No one seemed to object to that answer so Dumbledore continued "Now that we have got that all settled, I shall retrieve the others so we can introduce Amy and Carissa and inform them of the good news. Amy maybe you could be kind enough to clean Sirius hands up as they seem to still be a bit of mess."

Amy stared down at Sirius hands and noticed the was blood all over the table were he had been holding them "You did a good job there didn't you, please no more injuries today. This is the most I've used healing spells in years now, your lucky I still remember the basic ones. Tergeo." the blood disappeared from his hand "Oh and I just remembered the spell to heal gashes" Amy then pointed her wand at his head "Vulnera Sanentur. There you won't need that bandage anymore. Sorry I've been out of practice for a while now, so it takes me a bit to remember the spells. I suppose I'll have to go back through my old books and go over everything now if we are going to here now."

Amy put her wand back away but as she did she felt her phone vibrate in her pocket and start playing music.

_**All I know is that to me  
You look like you're having fun  
Open up your lovin' arms  
Watch out here I come**_

"Oh crap, that's Ainsley. What the hell do I do now?" Amy started panicking. "Answer it, you can't hide from him forever." Carissa replied rolling her eyes at Amy.

"Easy for you to say." Amy muttered.

_**You spin me right round, baby**__  
__**Right round like a record, baby**__  
__**Right round round round**_

"Just answer it Amy and put it on speaker phone so I can help out if you get stuck ok." Carissa urged.

_"Hello." Amy said as she pulled out her phone and chucked it on the table on so Carissa could hear as well._

_"Amy, what the hell did you do? Do you know how embarrassing this is for me? My own girlfriend gets a fine for misuse of magic."_

"Ummm, well I can explain." Amy started.

_"No, Amy I really don't want to hear your excuses at the moment. I don't care what happened, there was no reason for you to use your magic. I would of thought that you would be more considerate of your actions effecting me then using magic just because it was easy for you." _Sirius and Harry just sat there quietly not sure what to do but Sirius did notice that Carissa looked like she wanted to reach through the phone and strangle Ainsley at any moment.

"_I didn't do it for me, Ainsley! I accidentally hit a wizard with my car this morning and I had to heal him. It was better for me to do that and get the fine then go through with Muggle paperwork, plus I knew he would be ok. It's no big deal really." _Amy argued back.

_"How stupid are you Amy? Now everyone in the department knows my girlfriend got a fine. I've had to put up with people all day asking me about it and making jokes of it and you didn't even have the decency to let me know what had happened. You are so dumb sometimes Amy, you know what I can't deal with you right now. I'll call you when I'm ready to discuss this further perhaps when I'm not so angry with you!_" and then they all heard the phone being hung up.

"Amy, why do you let him speak to you like that? I've told you before that it isn't right." Carissa asked still looking like she still wanted to throttle Ainsley.

"It isn't a big deal Carissa, people argue all the time. That's what you do in relationships." Amy protested but looked troubled by the call.

"But that's not arguing, that was." Carissa went to speak but Amy cut her off.

"Enough Carissa, I really don't wont to hear your Ainsley bashing right now ok. Just drop it alright!" Amy snapped at Carissa.

Thankfully at that moment the rest of the Order walked in and sat down around the table again, although as they did this Amy noticed that Snape wasn't with them anymore.

Once everyone was seated Dumbledore stayed standing "I would like to now introduce everyone to these two wonderful ladies Amy Johnson and Carissa Stewert, who are from now our two newest members of the Order."

They was an immediate rush of people voicing their concern over what Dumbledore had just said "Quiet please. I have had a long discussion with them and I believe these ladies are as trustworthy as any else in this room. I urge you to treat them with as much respect as you treat anyone else in this Order. I would like to now introduce you all to them, although I'm sure some of you will still remember Amy and Carissa from Hogwarts. Firstly we have Remus Lupin, then Nymphadora Tonks although she prefers just Tonks, Arthur Weasley and his wife Molly, Hestia Jones, Sturgis Podmore, Dedalus Diggle, Elphias Doge, Alastor Moody, Mundungus Fletcher, Minerva McGonagall and lastly Kingsley Shacklebolt." Dumbledore announced.

"Well fuck a duck, Kingsley you're here too." Carissa exclaimed almost falling out of her chair in excitement.

"Language Carissa." Dumbledore chastised again even though he did seem slightly amused by her expression.

"Sorry, just didn't expect to see Kingsley here that was all. It has been such a long time since I last saw him, it is a pleasant surprise though." Carissa apologised regaining her composure slightly.

"I thought you two may remember each other from Hogwarts." Dumbledore said.

'Fucking hell, could this day get any weirder? I'm going need a bourbon or two after this." Amy whispered not realising that Sirius could still hear her.

"I've got fire whiskey, if that helps." Sirius whispered in her ear.

Amy jumped a little at his closeness to her and the fact he had heard what she said even though she had barely spoke it "I'll keep that in mind. Those two didn't just go to school together, they used to date as well so things are just getting stranger by the minute here. I feel like I'm Alice In Wonderland."

Dumbledore cleared his throat and Amy realised she hadn't been paying any attention to what was going on while she had been talking to Sirius.

"Now that introductions are finished , I would like to tell everyone why I have asked Amy and Carissa to stay here. They have agreed to become our new Muggle Studies teachers at Hogwarts and will be staying here until school starts to organise lessons and get used to our world again. Remus, I would like you to help the ladies out with getting organised on time and how to handle the children since you have previously taught at Hogwarts."

"You have gone bloody mad Albus! How do you know that they aren't one of his followers?" Alastor Moody hollered at Dumbledore before Remus even got the chance to reply.

"I agree with Moody, how do you know they won't give us all up to him and send us all to slaughter!" exclaimed Hestia Jones.

"They both have a point Albus, are you positive they aren't traitors? I mean Sirius has just dragged them in from nowhere." Elphias Doge added.

"Excuse me! I've been sitting here with a bunch of strangers who could easily overpower me and you accuse me of joining up with some evil tosspot even though I have nothing to do with this world anymore. I'll have you know that I follow no one. I do what I want and I will not suck up to some dude with an over inflated ego that thinks he is Lord Supreme. Now if you are all going to stand there and keep accusing me of this, we will turn around and walk right out of here now and you can shove this all up your butts." Carissa stood up yelling at the others.

"I think what Carissa means." Amy said trying to smooth things over as the group looked ready to attack them "Is that you all could of killed us ten times over by now, we are the ones at a disadvantage here. We don't mind helping out where we are needed but we won't stand here and be accused of being a Death Eaters any longer. I have risked everything to do you guys a favour, you will give us the respect we deserve."

"Dumbledore is right. If they wanted us dead they would of taken Harry and I already to Lord Supreme as Carissa called him. Plus I'm sure there are other people in this Order we should be more concerned about being Death Eaters then this pair. I haven't seen Molly object either by the way and she should be the one most concerned since all her kids are here." Sirius said trying to support the ladies.

"My decision is final. Molly I assure you have no need to be worried abut either of these ladies being a traitor anymore then yourself. Alastor and Hestia while I appreciate your concerns, I have seen no evidence for you to base your claims and I hope you refrain from throwing any more accusations at these ladies while they are here." Dumbledore finalised.

"I don't care what he says lassies, I'll be watching you very closely. Don't you dare think you can get away with anything under my watch." Moody growled at them.

"Yeah well watch this." Carissa said as she stuck her finger up at him.

"Oi you little disrespectful shit, how dare you insult me. I should teach you a lesson little girl." Moody said pulling out his wand. Carissa had a very fiery temper so she was quick to react to any insult thrown at her. She had her wand out as well in case she needed it to defend herself.

"Yeah well, your lesson is this. Go and fuck yourself you crazy old paranoid git." Carissa replied as she stuck her finger up again at Moody with her hand that wasn't holding her wand.

Amy swore she saw Kingsley smiling at his ex girlfriend since he was used to her fiery temper. Sirius couldn't hold his laughter in and it came bursting out while Remus was looking at him trying to get him to be quiet. Poor Harry just looked like he wanted to get out of there before curses started getting thrown and he got caught in the middle. Amy decided to intervene and settle everything down "Carissa please calm down, I'm sure they didn't mean much by it. How about we leave now so we can start packing our bags? Sirius knows the street where we live if you need to contact us and in the meantime you guys can battle this out between yourselves. If we haven't heard from anyone buy tonight, we will assume that it is safe to come back here." Amy suggested.

"That is an excellent idea, I'm sure by the time you arrive back here everyone will have much calmer heads and will be interested to have a chat with you both." Dumbledore answered.

"I'll show you the way out, Harry do you want to come with us?" Sirius asked as he got up to lead the ladies out of the room.

'Umm sure." Harry said jumping out of his seat quickly wanting to get away from everyone.

As the four of them left the room Sirius spoke "I have to say, I don't think I ever seen anyone talk to Moody like that. It was quite a display."

"Well he should of thought about before insulting us, although I will admit I do get angry very quickly." Carissa explained.

"Just a little." Amy snorted.

"Hey at least I'm not like you, Mrs bottle it all up and then explode at some poor unsuspecting person." Carissa said defensively.

"I'm not that bad." Amy replied.

"Whatever, Hulk." Carissa teased.

"I am not the Hulk."

"What is a hulk." Sirius asked looking puzzled.

"We will explain when we get back. It shouldn't take us to long to get back here, but please let us know if we are no longer welcome since I really don't want an angry mob after us." answered Amy.

"It will be fine, it's my house anyway so they can't keep you out." Sirius said grinning at them.

Carissa and Amy said their goodbyes to Sirius and Harry and walked out to Amy's car.

"You sure about this Amy, you know we could just go home and not come back?" Carissa asked.

"No not really, I still think something bad is going to happen because of this but yet it feels like this is what we are meant to do. I mean surely it isn't a coincidence that Kingsley is here as well, I mean you loved that guy so much even after you broke up. Maybe this is the universes random way of bringing you back together." Amy suggested.

Carissa paused as she got into the car and then spoke "I guess we will just have to wait and see, and hope that this doesn't back fire on us.

**A/N- Amy's Ringtone is You Spin Me Round by Dead or Alive **

_www.**you** /watch?v=PGNiXGX2nLU_

**Don't forget to let me know if you like this story. Also who would you like to see paired up Carissa/Kingsley, Amy/Sirius, Carissa/ Sirius, Amy/Ainsley, Amy/Remus, Carissa/ Remus, Tonks/ Remus or any other combination from the other characters so far in the story and why? Until next time, stay safe xxx**


	6. Questions and Answers

**A/N- Sorry it has taken so long to update but my computer died and went to I.T heaven. I hope to have the next four chapters posted fairly quickly now that we have a new one. Hope you are enjoying the story so far and as usual most of the characters belong to J.K Rowling. Now on with the story….**

**Previously**\- "**You sure about this Amy, you know we could just go home and not come back?" Carissa asked. **

**"No not really, I still think something bad is going to happen because of this but yet it feels like this is what we are meant to do. I mean surely it isn't a coincidence that Kingsley is here as well, I mean you loved that guy so much even after you broke up. Maybe this is the universes random way of bringing you back together." Amy suggested.**

**Carissa paused as she got into the car and then spoke "I guess we will just have to wait and see, and hope that this doesn't back fire on us."**

Chapter 6- Questions and Answers

Carissa and Amy arrived back at Grimmauld Place a few hours later. Amy had received a phone call from Ainsley wanting to come around while she had been packing but had used the excuse that she was too tired and would be better off seeing him another night. She wanted to have time to work out how she was going to explain to him about this teaching business first so she was very relieved when he agreed not to come over.

As they went to knock on the front door of the house, Sirius opened it for them. "Welcome ladies, to the most Ancient and Noble House of Black." taking a bow as he spoke.

"We thank you kind sir, for your gracious hospitality." Carissa replied pretending to bow back.

"Come inside and I'll take you on a tour of the house, although there isn't that much to see." Sirius said beckoning them in.

Carissa and Amy grabbed their trunks and followed Sirius down the dark hallway they had been in earlier and past the room everyone had been arguing in.

"No one is going to try and hex us are they?" Amy asked.

Sirius shook his head "No, there are still a few people that are against having you here or including you in Order meetings but they didn't get a choice. It's my house so they can't do anything except maybe not be over friendly towards you both."

They reached a set of stairs and started to climb them. "Umm, please tell me that is not a row of house elf heads on the wall?" Amy squeaked, noticing some horrible looking elves heads on the wall not far in front of them.

" I could tell you that, but I would be lying." Sirius said shrugging his shoulders.

"That's a bit weird. I know you have the dark, mouldy and depressing theme going here but that's taking it a little bit too far." Amy said recovering from the shock of what she had just seen.

"All the Black house elves are slightly insane, pretty much like my entire family actually. The house elves here think it is the greatest mark of respect to have their heads mounted on the wall." Sirius explained.

"Well that is slightly disturbing, but may we continue. I really don't want to be here all night staring at them." Carissa said screwing up her nose as she walked past the elves.

They reached the first landing and continued following Sirius "I'm not sure what you want to do. The only rooms I have free that aren't too dangerous to sleep in are, one on this level or my brother's old room on the very top floor. Would you like to share or would someone want to go to the upstairs room?"

"Probably best for us to have separate rooms. Living together is bad enough sometimes, being in the same room constantly may not end well. Plus if Amy and you have to sneak off for your therapy sessions it won't be so obvious that way." Carissa suggested.

"Fine by me, who else is on this floor anyway?" Amy asked.

"Most of Molly and Arthur's kids are here, so we have their son Ron staying in one room on this level with Harry. Remus is also staying on this floor as well. There is a bathroom and lavatory through those two doors on that side and this room is my mother's drawing room with a giant wall tapestry showing everyone that we are related to" Sirius said opening a door to his left.

They walked in and saw what looked like a massive tree painted on the wall with the names of different people on the branches. Next to it was some sort of coat of arms with two greyhounds rearing up, one on each side of a shield. The shield itself had two stars in the top two corners, with a v shaped pattern in the middle and a short sword below the pattern. The words Toujours Pur were written underneath and although Amy didn't know much French she was able to translate its meaning and quickly worked out that it meant Always Pure.

"Your family is really big on the nobility thing, aren't they." Amy commented

"What are you talking about?" Carissa asked.

"Greyhounds on their family coat of arms. During the Middle Ages greyhounds almost become extinct until they were saved by clergyman who breed them for nobility. In the tenth century killing a greyhound was even punishable by death. Eventually it came to be that only persons of nobility could own a greyhound and any commoner found with one would be severely punished. Commoners who did break the law used to hunt mainly with black, brindle or fawn coloured dogs because they were hard to spot and were easier to hide. Nobles however used white or spotted greyhounds so they couldn't lose them and could find them lot easier when hunting. That is where the saying, You can tell a gentleman by his horses and his greyhounds, came from." Amy answered and then asked Sirius " How come there are blackened marks around some peoples names on the tapestry?"

"Those are people that have supposedly betrayed and tarnished the Black reputation. My mother blasted me off it after I ran away from here and went to stay at the Potter's house. My favourite cousin Andy, she married a Muggle so she got taken off it. My Uncle Alphard was blasted off too, probably for giving me money to help me when I ran away." Sirius explained pointing to some of the names on the tapestry.

"Where is Carissa's room, from here?" Amy asked

"If we walk back out, Carissa you will be in the room next to this. If that is alright?" Sirius responded.

"Fine by me, I might go and put my trunk in the room now before we see Amy's room."

Amy and Sirius both nodded in agreement as they started walking out of the room, back out towards the staircase again. By the time they got to the next floor Carissa had caught up with them.

"This next level has more bedrooms with everyone else here staying in them. Ginny Weasley and Harry's friend Hermione in one room plus Arthur and Molly, and Fred and George Weasley in the other two. There is also another bathroom and lavatory as well. The twins Fred and George like to experiment a lot so don't be surprised if you hear explosions coming from this level and don't worry too much, they don't do anything overly dangerous."

The three of them continued to travel up the remaining stairs to the last level. When they got there Carissa and Amy saw two rooms to the left and one to the right. "On the right is my parent's old room but be careful if you have to go in there."

"Why?" Amy asked.

"I have a Hippogriff hiding in there." Sirius answered like it was the most normal thing in the world.

'Why the fuck do you have a hippogriff in there?" Carissa exclaimed.

"Long story but the simple version is Harry and Hermione saved both our lives when I first escaped Azkaban. Buckbeak would have been beheaded and I was going to be given the Kiss by the Dementors. If it weren't for those two kids I wouldn't be here." Sirius explained getting a sad look in his eyes.

"Sounds like you and I are going to be having some interesting discussions." Amy stated while shaking her head.

Sirius ignored her comment and continued "This room here is my brother Regulus's old room." He opened it up so Carissa and Amy could both see. The room was quite large with a bed, bathroom, desk and chair set as well as a walk in wardrobe. The walls were painted green and silver and the room itself didn't feel quite as old as the rest of the house.

"Sorry about the Slytherin colour scheme, all my family were in Slytherin except me. So of course Regulus painted his room in these stupid colours." Sirius apologized.

"Nothing wrong with being a Slytherin, I'm one myself." Carissa declared.

"Really?" Sirius said not believing her.

"Yes, you are looking at a Slytherin and a Ravenclaw here." Amy added as she placed her trunk in the middle of the floor.

"Bullshit."

"Nope. Obviously it was hard staying friends at times especially towards the end of war when tensions were at its highest. I knew what I believed in though and stayed true to those beliefs. By the time we were really affected by it, most people already knew what you had to do to become a Death Eater and there's no way I would ever do that. The war ended in our sixth year I think, so we were lucky in some ways. We still lost friends and family in it but we weren't really a part of it." Carissa explained.

"You will have to explain some other time how you managed to become friends with all the inter house rivalries at Hogwarts, but I'm sure by now you are pretty hungry. Would you like to join us downstairs for dinner?" Sirius asked.

"Yes that would be brilliant, I am starving." Carissa answered.

Amy and Carissa followed Sirius back down the stairs they had walked up and when they reached the hallway they had originally started from, they went down another set of stairs.

They walked through the door to the kitchen and found everyone sitting down eating and busy chatting away. Sirius decided to introduce the two women to those they hadn't met already "Oi, everyone this is Amy and Carissa. They will be staying here over the next two weeks as well. Amy and Carissa, you have already met Harry, Remus, Tonks, Arthur, Molly and Kingsley. These are Arthur and Molly's kids, Fred, George, Ron and Ginny. This lovely girl over here is Hermione Granger a friend of them all."

"Pleasure to meet you all." Amy said politely.

"Sit down please girls, I have some dinner here for you. I made extra when I knew you would be coming back." said Molly.

"Thank you Molly, that is much appreciated." Carissa replied.

The three of them sat down at the table and everybody started talking at once.

"Quiet you lot, let the poor girls speak. Now dears would like to tell us a bit about yourselves." Molly asked wanting to find out what she could about these strangers.

"Not much to tell really. I'm from a pureblood family but left this world when no one wanted to give Amy a job just because she was a muggle born. I was working in a bar before today's events and am now the latest Muggle Studies teacher at Hogwarts along with Amy. Amy here, is a doctor or healer by profession and has been my best friend since we started Hogwarts " Carissa answered before adding "Plus Amy is a little odd, but you will all get used to it."

"I am not that weird!" Amy cried out, feeling a little embarrassed.

"Yes you are! You even believe that if robots don't take over the world, monkeys will." Carissa argued.

"I have proof! In the last two weeks, two different orang-utans escaped from two completely different zoos in Australia. Just climbed straight out of their enclosures. Then we had that chimp over here that can tell when someone is pregnant and tries to kiss the humans belly. Some monkeys are already smarter then certain humans, don't tell me they couldn't overtake the Earth one day. Don't even start me on robots either, Skynet is nearly here, and we won't have the luxury of a terminator trying to warn us. It's not my fault, no one reads the signs and anyway it's not paranoia if they are really after you." Amy said trying to defend herself.

"That statement completely justifies my comment about you being weird." Carissa said smirking at her best friend.

After that Amy and Carissa spent another hour or so answering questions about themselves until Amy decided she should go to bed since she had to get up early in the morning to go to work.

"Thanks for the dinner Molly, it was lovely but I think I might head upstairs to bed now. You coming Carissa?" Amy asked.

"Actually if you don't mind, I might stay down here with Lee for a bit. We have a lot to catch up on."Carissa answered.

"No problems, goodnight everyone." Amy said but was thinking at the same time, please don't do anything stupid Carissa.

"I'll come up with you, just to make sure you make it to the correct room." Sirius said jumping up suddenly and following Amy out.

They were half way up the stairs when a house elf come limping down past them.

"Filthy traitors ruining my mistress's home, disgracing us with their presence." the elf muttered.

"Shut it Kreacher! Go and hide in your closet so we don't have to see you. Nobody wants to hear my mother's words coming out of your mouth." Sirius yelled at the elf.

The house elf disappeared but not before mumbling some more about filth and blood traitors.

"That was a bit harsh don't you think?" Amy asked

"No he deserved to spoken to like that, you wouldn't understand." Sirius said huffily and stormed up the stairs.

Amy grabbed Sirius before he reached the top floor landing. "Well, make me understand then." she demanded.

"No, I'm not talking about this now." Sirius hissed and went to walk away.

"Oh no you don't." Amy grabbed him quickly, shoved him into her room and managed to push him onto the bed. She locked her door quickly and said "Now you are not leaving here until you tell me what that was all about." Amy then sat next to him on the bed and waited for Sirius to start talking.

Sirius sighed "I suppose I treat him that way because he embodies everything my parents stood for, everything that I'm against. He worships my mother like she is a saint of some sort. He used to follow my parents around everywhere and even my brother Regulus, Kreacher always favoured because him because he was mothers favourite. He would only ever do the bare minimum to help me and if he saw me doing something he knew mother didn't like he would go running to her straight away. Now I am stuck here with him and it feels like he has taken the place of my mother in trying to make my life even more miserable then it already is."

"Do you really think that is Kreacher's own opinion though?" Amy asked.

"Of course it is, why else would he carry on about the blood traitor stuff?" Sirius said getting frustrated with Amy.

"To keep your mother happy and to earn his spot up on the wall of heads. If he heard your mother talk about Muggles like that, he was always going to act and talk the same way. If he saw your parents treating you poorly, he was always going to do the same. Your parents probably rewarded him whenever he got you trouble. Plus I've only been here for a few hours and can feel how miserable, dark and suffocating this place is. That elf has probably being affected by it too. You can't change the past and can't run from the future but you can live in the here and now. You getting pissed off and angry at him, isn't going to change anything except make him happier because he knows that he is getting under your skin." Amy tried to explain.

"I don't know, I don't think I can forget all the times I got into trouble because of him." Sirius commented.

"I'm not saying that, all I'm saying is maybe you should ignore him rather than showing your anger. Perhaps even think about why he behaves the way he does and consider that maybe you are taking all your anger at your parents out on him? I'm not judging you alright, I'm just trying to help you." Amy said learning over giving Sirius a hug but noticed he flinched at her touching him.

Amy pulled away after a few seconds and then started shooing Sirius away jokingly "Now out you get, I need to get some sleep. Oh and do me a favour keep an eye on Carissa for me and tell her that I said to make sure she behaves herself."

Sirius chuckled as he got up to leave the room "Thanks for the advice and I'll be sure to let you know if Carissa and Kingsley are up to no good."

After Sirius left, Amy got changed into her pyjamas and tried to go to sleep. However she found her thoughts kept interrupting her sleep. Amy didn't know what was going on with her and Ainsley lately and she wanted it sorted soon because she was so tired of arguing all the time. Then she started worrying about how she was meant to teach these children at Hogwarts when she knew nothing about teaching. Plus how was she supposed help Sirius, she had smelt alcohol coming off him through the night and suspected he had taken to drinking to curb his inner demons. Lastly there was the odd sensation Amy had gotten not long after Sirius had left, where it felt like someone was watching her. It only lasted a few minutes and Amy couldn't see anyone but it was enough to scare her and keep her restless for the entire night.

**A/N- Thanks for continuing to follow the story and leaving reviews. Don't forgot to let me know any of your thoughts or comments on the story. Until next time, stay safe everyone. xxx**


	7. Werewolves of London

**A/N- All characters belong to J.K Rowling.**

**Previously- After Sirius left, Amy got changed into her pyjamas and tried to go to sleep. However she found her thoughts kept interrupting her sleep. Amy didn't know what was going on with her and Ainsley lately and she wanted it sorted soon because she was so tired of arguing all the time. Then she started worrying about how she was meant to teach these children at Hogwarts when she knew nothing about teaching. Plus how was she supposed help Sirius, she had smelt alcohol coming off him through the night and suspected he had taken to drinking to curb his inner demons. Lastly there was the odd sensation Amy had gotten not long after Sirius had left, where it felt like someone was watching her. It only lasted a few minutes and Amy couldn't see anyone but it was enough to scare her and keep her restless for the entire night.**

Chapter 7- Werewolves of London

The next morning when Amy's alarm went off she forced herself to get out of bed. The restless sleep from the night before had taken its toll on her, as the talking mirror in the bathroom so kindly informed her when she went in there to get changed.

"You know dear, there are some charms you can use to make yourself look more presentable." it said snobbishly.

"I know that but at the moment I don't really care." Amy snapped at the mirror.

"No need to be rude." the mirror replied.

"Yeah well, I've had little sleep and I'm about to go for a run so I'll be looking even worse than this when I get back." Amy said as she marched out the door, quickly grabbing her iPod and heading to the kitchen to grab some fruit before her run.

When she arrived in the kitchen she saw Sirius and Remus already sitting there and it looked like they were having an intense discussion.

"Sorry to interrupt you both but do you mind if I just grab an apple? I want to have something before I go for my run." she asked hesitantly.

"Sure come in. Would you like us to cook you something instead?" Remus asked politely.

"No thanks, I'll grab some toast when I get back but an apple will be fine for now." Amy said grabbing one from a fruit bowl and joining them at the table.

"How was your sleep last night?" Remus asked.

"A little bit restless." Amy admitted then added "You don't happen to have a ghost haunting here do you?"

Sirius shook his head no.

"That's weird. I had this feeling like something was watching me last night. It was only for about five minutes but it was a bit creepy and then the feeling disappeared just as quickly as it came."

"It was probably Kreacher, I'll have a word with him about it." Sirius said but he was lying. He had felt that feeling many times before and knew it wasn't the elf but there was no way he was telling Amy that. No one else knew about it and he certainly wasn't going to be forthcoming with the fact that he thought there was a ghostly presence in the house. The house was bad enough on it's own without one of his relatives haunting it, they would probably try to harm everyone in it if they were able to. He just hoped that Amy wasn't reading his aura at that moment since it wouldn't look good if he was found to be lying to her already.

"I forgot to warn you last night to be careful around this house as well. My family kept a lot of dark artefacts and even though we have gotten rid of most of them, there are still a lot that we haven't found. Probably best if you are not sure if a room is safe, to come and get Molly or I and we will check it." Sirius said just as Carissa come in.

"Hey everyone." Carissa said as she sat down next to Amy.

"Hey yourself, what happened with you and Kingsley last night?" Amy asked straight away, wanting to get the gossip from her best friend.

"Nothing happened." Carissa said not looking at Amy.

"You're lying, tell me." Amy demanded.

"Nothing."

"Fine then, do you know what happened Sirius?" Amy asked changing her tactic.

"Well my dear Amy, they got along so fabulously, that they disappeared for about 10 minutes before Kingsley went home. They thought no one noticed them sneaking out." Sirius informed her.

Amy grinned at Carissa "You snogged him, didn't you?"

"We didn't snog on purpose, it just sort of happened. It doesn't mean anything anyway, it was only a kiss." Carissa muttered while leaning her head on the table.

"Bullshit, it was more than that. You don't just go and kiss people like that, otherwise I would be snogging these two here." Amy said pointing to Remus and Sirius.

"Who is snogging who?" said another voice entering the kitchen.

"Ah Tonks my dear cousin, I guess you are planning to join us for breakfast then?" Sirius questioned the pink haired girl.

"Yes thanks, I thought I'd drop by here before I went to work. Now who is snogging who?" she asked as she sat down at the table.

"It appears that Kingsley has been snogging the lovely Carissa here. Got to give that man credit, only a few hours in and he already has the ladies throwing themselves at him." Sirius answered.

"I'm a lady and I'm not throwing myself at him and I'm pretty sure Tonks isn't either. It's different with Carissa and Kingsley, there is way more to the story then him just trying to get into her pants." Amy pointed out.

" Yes but you see Tonks has her eye on some other mystery man and you my sweet Amy, are Carissa's best friend so would never even think of Kingsley remotely like that. Never fear though you still have the pleasure of indulging in my rugged good looks and charming personality instead. I reckon if you didn't have a boyfriend, you would be throwing yourself at me since you wouldn't be able to resist my charm." Sirius said grinning madly and winking at her.

"Get over yourself Muttley. I prefer cats over dogs any day of the week." Amy responded. The whole table burst out laughing and Sirius just shook his head in disgust at Amy liking cats over dogs.

"I might head off as soon as I've finished this and before Muttley gets it in his head that I can't keep my clothes on around him." Amy said trying to stand up while finishing off her apple.

"Actually would you mind if I talked to you about something for a few minutes before you go. It can't wait since it may change your mind about staying here." Remus asked looking worried.

Amy swore she heard Sirius growl even though he was in human form as she sat back down in her seat "Sure, what it is?"

"What do you know about werewolves?" Remus asked.

"Umm people write awesome songs about them?" Carissa stated while lifting her head up off the table and sitting up straight in her chair "Especially that Werewolves of London song."

"Ahhh woooo, Werewolves of London. Ahhh woooo!" Amy sang "Great now I'm going to have that song stuck in my head all day, thanks Carissa."

"Actually Amy should know more than me, don't you Amy?" Carissa said getting Amy to stop singing.

"What I know is mostly from a medical perspective. It is a disease known as lycanthropy and most people with it are generally treated unfairly because everyone confuses facts with fiction. A person infected is no more dangerous then you or I on a normal day, however when it is a full moon they have to transform. They can't control themselves and while Wolfsbane helps relieve the symptoms it does not cure the disease. Plus it is a fairly difficult potion to make. You could quite easily end up accidently poisoning someone, if you mess it up. As long as they take the potion correctly someone with disease can stay somewhere safe and sleep through the transformation. Wolfsbane makes life a little bit easier for sufferers of the condition."

"What about people that are werewolves?" Remus asked again looking nervous.

"They are the same as everyone else, there are some dickheads like Fenrir Greyback who we know has deliberately infected others but there are a lot of infected people who pose no danger to society as long as they take care around transformation times. One of my first cases was working with a 5 year old boy who was infected. I think Greyback infected him too but his mother and father fought him off so he couldn't kidnap the boy. However his parents didn't realise that he had already been bitten. When I told them he was definitely infected, his parents begged me to end his life. Even though I explained that advances were being made with Wolfsbane and it was possible he could still have a somewhat normal life, they still wanted him dead. I refused to kill him and kept at them saying he would be alright. They eventually told me that they agreed with me and would take the boy home and place him in a secure environment around transformation times, I didn't know at the time that they were lying. A few days later I saw an obituary in the Prophet, the boy I treated had supposedly fallen off a cliff and died. There was no investigation into it and when I went to the Ministry with my suspicions that the boys parents may of pushed him off deliberately, I was told even if the boys parents had murdered him, he was better off now anyway and they were not going to reopen the case. They got away with murdering their own son, it was absolutely disgraceful. How you could do that to any child is beyond me, let alone your own son. That boy would of been terrified in his last moments and all because his parents thought he was a monster." Amy explained feeling a little teary remembering the little boy with the most gorgeous blue eyes she had ever seen.

"Why are you asking us this?" Carissa asked suddenly.

Remus sighed "Because I have the disease as well. I don't stay here around full moon times because I won't take any chances around other people. I understand if you don't want to be near me though and I will even move back to my own house while you are here, if I make you feel uncomfortable."

"Don't be ridiculous, I'm sure if you were dangerous Molly wouldn't let her kids here with you. I don't care about it and I'm sure Carissa doesn't either as long as you are taking all the precautions, it is perfectly fine with us. I should of guessed with a name like Remus though." replied Amy.

"Explain Amy, again it is too early in the morning for me to be thinking properly." Carissa mumbled.

"There is a legend around that tells the tale of twin brothers Remus and Romulus who were raised partly by a wolf. Although Remus doesn't fair so well by the end of the tale. You don't have any twin brothers do you? It could get you killed." Amy answered.

Remus shook his head no. "All clear on the brother front, which is probably a good thing. At least only my parents had to handle my condition when I was growing up."

Tonks patted Remus on the back "You believe the lies and rumours yourself too much Remus. When you lay the facts out straight, you are a perfectly normal, deserving human being. You are a kind, intelligent man who deserves to be treated as one, I just wish you would bloody listen me."

"Listen to my cousin Remus, anyone with half a brain in them can tell that you are a bloody good man. Werewolf or not." Sirius added but Remus didn't reply.

"Look I'm sorry to end this conversation so abruptly but I've got to go. Don't worry about the werewolf thing Remus, we really don't care about it. I'll see you all when I get back."

Amy disappeared out the door and Tonks wanted to get off the werewolf subject since she knew how much it bothered Remus so she started to question Carissa "I didn't know you and Kingsley were so close?"

"We dated for a while after we left Hogwarts but my parents weren't exactly happy about it."

"Why not?" Tonks asked.

"Both of my parents didn't like the colour of his skin. It wasn't just them either, Kingsley had people coming up to him saying he shouldn't be with me and vice versa. We both loved each other but it was too hard maintaining a relationship, we couldn't visit our families for any get together because there was always someone trying to cause trouble. Amy helped out where she could by covering for us sneaking around but it wasn't fair on her. She already felt guilty enough that she was staying at my parent's place, let alone lying to them when they took her in after her Dad died. Kingsley and I started fighting more because of the pressure and decided we would better off just as friends. We have stayed in contact over the years through letters though and have always had a deeper connection. I was heartbroken when we split up and even though both of us have seen other people since, I could never love anyone else, my heart always belonged to him and always will."

"What's changed now?" Remus asked

"We are both older and somewhat wiser. Both of us are able to handle the pressure better, we came to the conclusion last night that because Kingsley has such a dangerous job and how any day he may not make it back here alive, maybe this is the chance we need to give it a second go. Maybe we can have some happiness even if it is only for a while." Carissa answered.

"Oh that's so sweet, I wish I had someone like that." Tonks said glancing at Remus.

"So you don't have a boyfriend then?" Carissa said shifting the spotlight away from herself.

"No, it is just so hard to trust people now. Plus when I've been on dates before I've had men ask me to change my looks to suit their desires. I want someone who likes me for the clumsy idiot that I am, not some bimbo they fancy from a magazine." Tonks stated

"What about Sturgis? He is single and a nice guy. Plus he is part of the Order so you know you can trust him. Or is he already your mystery crush, I overhead you and Molly talking about last week? The interesting older man." Sirius asked.

"It's not Sturgis and as if I'd tell you, you wouldn't stop the taunting. Plus this guy is so caught up in his misery that he doesn't think that he deserves happiness." Tonks snapped while Remus was looking extremely uncomfortable with the situation and thanked Merlin when Molly walked in.

"Hello everyone, you are all up early. Amy isn't with you?" she asked curiously as she joined them at the table.

"She has gone for a run, she tells me it helps clear her head of all her thoughts and gives her a clearer view of whatever problem she may have." Carissa replied.

"Will she be back for breakfast?

"She will only have toast probably, since we usually don't cook big breakfasts. We just have cereal, fruit or toast normally."

"You don't cook?" Molly asked a little shocked.

Carissa snorted "Amy knows maybe four or five simple meals that get us through and keep us healthy but other than that we can't cook anything overly fancy. I get a lot of my meals from work as well and they have some good healthy alternatives. One time Amy set our oven on fire when she was trying to grill a sandwich. She found out that baking paper and grilling don't go well together, at least she was smart enough to stop the fire before it burnt down our whole kitchen. So us not cooking is probably the safest option for everyone."

"Do you own the house together or was it part of one of your family's?" Sirius asked.

"Amy's aunt Vera left it to her a few years ago and it saved us having to pay rent every week. Vera was Amy's only relative left in England after her Dad passed away so they were always quite close."

"What happened to the rest of her family?' Molly questioned.

"Amy's mum was American so all her relatives are over there or travelling around the world. Aunt Vera was her dad's only sibling and never had any children. At the end of our fifth year,Amy's family home was raided by Death Eaters and her Dad was killed. Amy's mum was in America visiting her relatives at the time and her brother Chris was away at university. When Amy found out she was devastated of course and wanted to find out who did it but the Ministry decided there was enough fear over Voldemort anyway that it would be best if his death was blamed on Muggle causes. Amy was furious because she wanted to see the killers brought to justice but that would never happen. She still doesn't know to this day who it was that killed him."

"That poor girl, what about her mother? Did she return?" Molly questioned.

"Amy knew it was dangerous over here so she begged her mother to stay overseas. She asked Chris to transfer over to America as well because she was worried they would track him down and kill him too. It wasn't until after the war that Amy saw Chris and her Mum again but by then they had both decided to stay overseas. Her mum had too many memories in their family home here and her brother just preferred the American lifestyle to the British one. Amy stayed with my parents until she decided to leave this world and live as a Muggle and I went with her. She could of stayed with her Aunt but she was worried that someone would track her down. She figured since her Aunt had a different last name, no one would make the connection as long as Amy never stayed there."

Carissa just finished speaking when they heard the door open and a loud crashing noise, which was followed by a loud screeching noise.

"Filthy Mudbloods, no respect for my ancestors!"

"Dirty Blood traitors!"

"Filthy Scum!"

Sirius got up and ran out "Shut up, you old hag!" he screamed furiously back at the voice.

Carissa and Remus followed him out of the room. Remus went to the door to help Amy pick up the umbrella stand she had knocked over coming back in from her run, while Carissa watched fascinated as Sirius argued with a life size portrait of what looked to be one of his relatives. She hadn't noticed it before but it had been hidden in a little alcove at the side of the hallway.

"Get out, you don't belong here! "

"Shut up you vile old women!"

"How dare you even talk to me, you were never my son. I should of aborted you when I had the chance!"

"Yeah well I wish you had, at least then I wouldn't have spent my entire life in fucking misery!"

Carissa was a little shocked by Sirius comment but didn't have a chance to say anything as Amy came up to them "While your mother sounds like a very charming women please remind me never to have a conversation with her."

"Wish there was a way to shut her up permanently." Sirius said finally managing to pull some red curtains over the portrait at least muffling the screams.

" I'm going to get ready for work and then I'll be back down. Sorry for waking you mother up though, I didn't mean too." Amy said and started heading up to her room while the others went back to the kitchen.

Amy walked up the stairs feeling glad she had gone for a run although a little embarrassed about the commotion she had just caused. The run had helped her gain some sort of idea on how she was going to help Sirius and Harry now. She had even thought some more about telling Ainsley about her job and how she was going to do it. She could predict what his reaction was going to be and knew it probably wouldn't be favourable. The next thought that had popped into her head was, what if Ainsley made her choose between him and the job. Her head said one thing but her heart said another. Her head was screaming walk away now and save any dramas but her heart knew that she had to help Sirius and Harry and she couldn't just walk away. Also Carissa had found Kingsley again and she wouldn't leave her on her own, not with the way things were going. The choice was made, yes she would be devastated if she had to end things with Ainsley and would probably hate herself for it. The answer was clear though she would choose these guys over Ainsley, not because she wanted to but because it was the right thing to do.

**A/N -The song Amy is singing is by Warren Zevon and called Werewolves of London.**


	8. Demons

**A/N- Everyone except Amy and Carissa belong to J.K Rowling, I'm just borrowing them for a little bit. Also a warning that this chapter gets a little dark and deals mostly with depression and suicide. If this subject isn't a easy one for you to read about, I would suggest skipping this chapter and waiting for the next chapter or two. This is also a really long chapter as well, I tried cutting it back but I wanted to get across how affected Sirius really is by everything that has happened.**

**Previously- The choice was made, yes she would be devastated if it come that and would probably hate herself for a bit. The answer was clear though she would choose these guys over Ainsley, not because she wanted to but because it was the right thing to do.**

Chapter 8- Demons

It had been hours since Tonks and Amy had both left for work and Sirius was bored. Tonks was always fun to have around, she knew how to liven things up and he liked hearing about what her mother Andy had been up to. Amy intrigued him, he wasn't sure why but something about her made him feel like maybe she wouldn't hold his past against him, like everyone else dd.

He walked into he kitchen to get something to eat and found Remus and Carissa sitting there discussing plans for Hogwarts.

"So tell me, do you know anything about teaching?" Remus asked Carissa as Sirius joined them at the table.

"Nothing at all" Carissa answered.

"The first thing I would recommend, is wearing wizarding robes and not muggle clothing when you are there. You will be a walking target for Death Eaters in those clothes and trust me they will start making appearances soon now that Voldemort is back." Remus said.

"Amy is not going to like that, she hates going clothes shopping. I suppose if it helps us blend in again and not get killed, she won't argue too much. One of you is telling her though since this is your idea." Carissa replied.

Sirius then spoke up "Watch out for the pure blood kids too, they will try and push you to your breaking point if they think they can get away with it. Maybe not with you so much but Amy will have a tough time once they find out she is Muggleborn."

"Show your authority from the start and don't tolerate anyone who is disrespectful to your position. Once you get to know the students better then you can lighten up on them but for now you should be fairly strict." Remus added.

"What about any of the kids living here? Are they taking Muggle Studies?" Carissa asked.

"The twins and Ginny are. You won't have any issue with Ginny, the twins however may give you a few headaches. They aren't known for being well behaved but yet somehow manage to do well on most of their exams." Remus answered.

"I'm sure they will be fine and won't give us too much hell. Now what about the textbooks are they up to date? The Muggle world changes all the time especially with technology."

"Actually, that is a problem. The standard text book on the subject is fifteen years old, so you are going to have to do a lot of your own research into your lessons plans. You may want to inform Dumbledore or McGonagall if you think the textbooks the children are buying are too old and look into an alternative." Remus suggested.

"So starting from scratch pretty much. Alright, let me get my computer and we can start working on a list of things that need to be covered. We can also see what books we can find that are more useful on the subject." Carissa said getting up to leave the room.

"I think I might go and find Harry. I want to see how he is feeling today after he had such a big day yesterday." Sirius said realising that he probably wouldn't be much help to them and completely forgetting that he had actually gone into the kitchen to eat.

Sirius walked out of the room to look for Harry and after searching everywhere, finally found him sitting down in the drawing room of the house.

"Hello Harry." Sirius said

"Oh, hi Sirius." Harry said, looking up from his chair. " I just found this room and was looking at your family tree, I didn't know you were related to the Malfoys?"

"Unfortunately, every Pureblood family is related somehow. When you only want to marry Purebloods, the gene pool is quite restricted. In fact my parents were cousins, and they ended up marrying each other. What are you doing in here anyway Harry, I thought you would be catching up with Ron and Hermione some more?" Sirius answered as he walked over and sat down next to Harry.

"I had argument with them over why they haven't even tried to contact me the last few weeks."

"Let me guess Dumbledore told them not to?" Sirius replied.

"Yes but they didn't even try. If it was me, I would have tried to keep them informed of what was going on. You had an excuse to be careful yet still defied Dumbledore." Harry pointed out.

"Yes, but not everyone is mad enough to defy him." Sirius said smirking.

"Only you and Voldemort from what I can tell." Harry muttered.

Sirius snorted "Thanks for the comparison. I only go to those extreme lengths for the people I love, although it doesn't seem to ever work out so great for me in the long run and well Voldemort, isn't exactly sane is he? So maybe defying Dumbledore, isn't always the best option."

"You said you do crazy things for the people you love, even if it blows up in your face. Were you in love with anyone before Azkaban?"

"Nah, when I was in school I wasn't interested in long terms things with any of the girls, I just wanted to have fun. Then when I left, things were too crazy too start anything with anyone since one mistake could kill you. Especially if you trusted the wrong person. You parents were very lucky they had each other during the war."

"What do you think I should do about Ron and Hermione?" Harry questioned.

"Look Harry, give Ron and Hermione a chance. You are going to need them to help you if things get as bad as last time. The more people you have on your side, the better your chance of surviving again" Sirius advised.

"I suppose, I should probably apologize for yelling at them like I did."

They were interrupted by a knock on the door and both of them looked up to see Ginny standing there.

"Sorry Harry, I heard you arguing early with Ron and Hermione and I just came to see if you were ok."

"You know what, I'm feeling tired so why don't you and Ginny talk for a while I go and have a nap. I'll see you two later." Sirius said getting up to walk out of the room.

"Are you sure?" Ginny asked, not wanting to intrude.

"Yes, of course. I do still need my beauty sleep after all. I can't let the fact I've been on the run all this time ruin my good looks." Sirius joked and headed out of the room leaving Harry and Ginny to their own devices.

Sirius walked upstairs and entered his room, letting his thoughts over take him as he sat on his bed. This was the only place he felt comfortable lately, where no one judged him on his past or his shitty present and probably even shitter future. He felt like he had no one he could put his complete trust in anymore. Even though Remus and he had sorted things out after his melt down the night before, he still couldn't help but feel their connection wasn't the same as what it was before he was in Azkaban and probably never would be. Yes he would still die for Remus if it come down to it but still wasn't certain Remus would do the same for him. He trusted certain members of the Order for some things but on the other hand he was also waiting for them to turn around and betray him or worse still, for them to forget that he even existed. He never really meant anything to anybody besides James and Lily did he? No one would ever listen to what he said now because as far as they could all see, he was still just filth rotting in Azkaban and even if he was cleared of his crimes by the Ministry, would anyone want anything to do with him? He highly doubted it, everyone would still be scared of him. He was pretty much useless in this world, it wasn't like he could get a job or start a family of his own. The Dementors did great job of messing him up, no one would want to put up with him. He needed James and Lily back, they would know what to do and say to him. In fact he would be happy if it was just the 3 of them again, laughing and having fun.

Sirius wasn't sure how long he sat there thinking about his life over and over again and what could have been. What did he have now? Nothing. He couldn't even be that much of role model to Harry. Maybe if things had turned out differently, then he could have been a better Godfather but Harry had the Weasley's there to guide him now, Ginny looked like she would be a big help to him too and Remus was good at giving advice. Sirius had nothing else he could give to Harry that he didn't already have. He loved that kid so much but the truth was he would have been better off staying in Azkaban rather than trying to protect Harry because he couldn't do anything to help him anyway. Now Harry was away from the Dursleys, there was no reason for Sirius to be here anymore. At least in death, he might finally have his freedom. He could be with James and Lily and be happy. He wouldn't be here for Harry but he knew the truth, Harry was better off without him in his life. Even when he had tried to help, he ended up dragging two people into this mess that didn't need to be. What would happen if Amy or Carissa got killed? That would be another two people death's on his hands.

Sirius thought he heard a knock come from somewhere but ignored it. Tears started rolling down his face as he pulled his wand out and held it against his head. He knew the words all he had to do was utter them and all his painful memories would disappear. He would finally be free.

"I'm sorry Harry but this is for the best. James and Lily, I'll see you very soon. Avada..."

"Sirius?"

"Sirius what the hell are you doing?"

A loud voice made him drop his wand before he finished the words and he saw Amy staring at him from his doorway.

"It was nothing, umm just going to take some memories out to look in the pensive later" Sirius lied not wanting to look at her.

"Bullshit, I heard the last words of that."

"Look Amy, it's not what you think. Just leave me alone." Sirius said trying to stop the tears from running down his face. No one needed to see him like this and see how weak he had become.

"No, come with me, I need you to talk to me now." Amy pulled Sirius up off his bed, and held him close as she made him walk into her room. Amy locked the door and cast a silencing charm.

"Please don't lie to me Sirius. I know you are depressed and I know exactly what you just tried to do. I know you probably don't feel like it but I'm here to help you beat this. I know that your life is shit right now but I'm going to help you through this alright. But for me to do this right, I need your complete honesty ok?" Amy said as she gently sat Sirius down on her bed.

"Not sure how you can help. If you think you can fix me, well by all means go ahead. Not sure why you really want to though." Sirius replied watching Amy pace around her room.

"I want to help you because no person should ever feel that alone or disgusted with themselves, that they attempt suicide."

Amy didn't say anything else for a minute but then continued " Firstly I want to do a health check so I know a little more about you and your lifestyle. Then we can start discussing everything that has happened to you in depth so I can try and get you feeling better then how you have been." Amy said picking up a piece of paper and a pen. " I'm going to do a few measurements of height and weight, then ask a few more questions about your general health. Is that ok?"

Sirius nodded and sat there silently while Amy measured him and made him stand on some scales she had got from somewhere when he wasn't paying attention.

"Ok I'm done and I really don't like what I see. You are 5 foot 9 and only weigh 115 pounds. That is underweight for your height, you should be between 125 and 169 pounds depending on your body type. So we definitely need to improve your diet and slowly build your weight back up again. Do you drink or smoke and how often do you do it?"

"I drink every night probably around six glasses of fire whiskey and I do smoke, but not very often." Sirius answered as he felt himself starting to calm down.

"Have you had any suicidal thoughts before this episode?"

Sirius hesitated not wanting to answer "It's ok Sirius, I'm not here to judge you. Anything you tell me in these sessions is completely confidential." Amy reassured him.

"Yes, I get these thoughts at least twice a month but something has always stopped me from going through with it." Sirius finally admitted.

Amy paused for a while looking over her notes and typing something into her computer. She finally sat down on the desk chair facing Sirius and continued

" The first thing I suggest besides improving your diet, is for you to cut back on drinking when you can. Alcohol is classed as a depressant, so you drinking every night isn't doing you any good. Even if you cut back just a little each week, it might help. Secondly we have a lot to work to do on changing your thoughts about your past and your future. I think starting at the beginning is the probably the best option. How about you start with telling me about your childhood?"

"What do you want to know?" Sirius asked still not sure he wanted to do this.

"Well how do you feel about being stuck here?" Amy prompted.

"I hate it, I won't deny that. It reminds me too much of my past and my family's hatred for Muggles. Before Hogwarts we were educated at home and as part of the daily lessons by my mother, we were taught that we were superior to anyone else especially Muggles. I was lucky I had an Uncle that I could ask questions about Muggles, if I wanted to and he wouldn't punish me for it. I learnt quickly from a young age not to trust what my mother said about Muggles and not to mention them in front of her unless I wanted a beating.

We still had a lot growing up though. We had money, fame, fortune and we always had a belief that we could have whatever we wanted. It was when I started at Hogwarts that things got worse. I was sorted into Gryffindor instead of Slytherin like I was expected to. When my parents found out they sent me a Howler and came to the school to try and get Dumbledore to re-sort me. Dumbledore refused of course and since my parents couldn't take their anger out on him, they choose me instead.

When I went home that summer my mother locked me in my room for 3 weeks and I was only allowed water to drink and one meal a day. After that I vowed never to become like her and to do whatever I could to piss them off and show them that Muggles were just as good as us.

However the more I did this, the worse her punishments became. In my last year at Hogwarts, she wanted me to join up with Voldemort. It would restore some of the dishonour I had brought on my family by liking Muggles and associating with them. When I refused to join, both mother and father really lost their shit. Father basically said that he wished Regulus was his only child and mother did something even I didn't think she would do. She waited until Regulus and my father were out of the house and she used the Cruciatus curse on me. While she was doing this Kreacher stood there and did nothing to help me. That elf stood and watched while my Mother tried torturing me into joining Voldemort, which is another reason why I hate him.

It was only the fact that my father and Regulus got home early and stopped mother from continuing to torture me that I escaped alive. I'm pretty sure she would of kept going till was dead. I was in so much pain that I had vomit over me and had wet my pants. Father was furious with my mother after he found out, so they were too busy arguing to see what I was doing. As soon as I got the chance I packed my bags and headed to James's house. Once his parents saw the condition I was in, they took me in and I stayed with them after that. My mother never contacted me after that incident, she really didn't care what had happened to me. My father come past about six months later and left me a letter since he knew that I would never speak to him. I was going to burn it at first without reading it but Mrs Potter made me promise to keep it, just in case there was a time that I would need it. I'm pretty sure that the letter should still be here somewhere, all my stuff got sent hereafter I was imprisoned."

Amy couldn't believe what she was hearing but tried not to show any emotion as she spoke "I'm sorry you had to go through that Sirius, no child should be abused like that by anyone, let alone their own parent's. I would like you to find that letter from your father though and try and read it if you can. Perhaps your father cared more than you thought but also knew you would never enter the family home of your own will ever again, so he wrote to you instead. I mean he did stop you mother using the Cruciatus curse on you and you said he was furious at her afterwards, maybe your difference of opinion on Muggles was just his excuse for not having to show affection towards you. Especially if he didn't really know how to show that he did care."

Sirius thought for a moment and then said "Maybe you are right, I'll think about it."

"Good, now the other thing I want to know is why you do have so much anger directed at that man Snape. I know you blame everyone for the pain you are going through at the moment but there is so much more directed at him from what I saw last night." Amy questioned.

"That goes back to when we were at Hogwarts. When James and I meet Snape he wanted to be sorted in Slytherin and made fun of Gryffindor. Later on he was involved in the Dark Arts up to his eyeballs. He reminded me so much of my family and I didn't understand how Lily could have been friends with him. James and I liked to play a lot tricks on him and tease him a lot for his greasy hair and his large nose."

"Was it just joking or did it turn into bullying? It can be a fine line sometimes, what someone sees as a joke can actually be really hurtful to other people. Especially if you don't really know the other person that well_." _

_"__I_ suppose you could call it bullying but Snape also did give as good as he got." Sirius snapped.

"I'm sure he did but what made you target him specifically. I'm sure there were other Death Eater wannabes as well." Amy said trying not to snap back at him.

"We did prank whole groups at a time as well but we targeted him more because he was always hanging around Lily and every time James went to talk to her, he would never leave. He was always trying to find out what we were up to and getting us into trouble."

"I think I can put another spin on what happened. Snape was hanging with James's girl and James was jealous of him. When James started complaining about him, it gave you something else to hate Snape for. I think you saw your family and their ideals in Snape when you found out he liked Dark Arts and took a lot of your anger and resentment out on him. You couldn't hurt your family but you could hurt another kid your age that was exactly the same as them. Even though you didn't really know Snape or his true ideals at all."

Sirius thought for a moment "Maybe, I don't know. It wasn't bad at first but then the hatred just seemed to get worse over the years, until it spiralled out of control"

"Is there anything else I should know about you and Snape? You seem to have a long history." Amy asked.

_"_Yes, there is something that I'm really not proud of. As much as I hate him, Snape is still an intelligent man. He was snooping around us all the time trying to find out why Remus disappeared every month. One day he and I got into a confrontation and I told him where to find Remus hiding place during the full moon. I honestly thought that he was too scared to go through with it. I mean if you suspected someone was a werewolf, which I'm sure he had already figured out. Why would you go after it? Even I wouldn't be stupid enough to take on a fully fledged werewolf in my human form. When I told James what I had said to Snape, he realised that maybe Snape would go through with it and ran after Snape to stop him going to Remus. James got there just in time to stop Snape from being killed but as you can guess Snape will never forgive me for that incident."

"So you almost got him killed?" Amy clarified.

"Yes alright, but it was an accident! I didn't mean for him to get hurt, I honestly thought it would just scare him some more and he would stop stalking us. Please spare me the lecture on how stupid and idiotic it was, I've heard it all before. I was never the mature one and was always rather quick to react to things. Remus was the mature one of the group, I'm actually surprised Lily didn't fall for him over James's to be quite honest." Sirius said defensively.

"I'm not going to lecture you Sirius. We all make stupid mistakes when we are young and some of us lose more than others because of them. To me it is similar thing to when young kids drink and drive. Some walk away without anything bad happening whereas others end up wrapping their car around a tree and get themselves or other people killed. We all get our licences at the same age but some people are able to accept responsibility better than others. You made a mistake all those years ago, I didn't know you back the so I can't judge you on your past but what you show me now. To be perfectly honest though at the moment, I still think you have a twenty year olds mind set in an older body. You have been in prison all this time and have had no chance to grow and develop and I would almost wager a bet that you would still be as rash now as you were before you went to prison. The only way for you to grow up, is to be in and environment where you can mature. That is a bit hard when you are on the run though. Look what you did was wrong but you already know that. Having me tell you that you were stupid isn't going to make a difference but at least I know why there is so much animosity between you and Snape now." Amy replied.

"Just so you know Snape isn't completely innocent either, he was quite happy to let the Dementors suck out my soul and it was him who informed the whole school about Remus being a werewolf when Remus was teaching there." Sirius informed Amy.

"I don't know what his motivations were for doing that but I don't know him either so I can't exactly say he is a horrible person. However I will say this though I have to disagree with someone who thinks that it is perfectly fine for Dementors to do that to anyone. I don't agree with the Dementors guarding Azkaban in the first place, let alone having them around to suck out peoples souls. I don't think anyone has the right to do that to someone and I'm pretty sure that we are in breach of certain human rights laws by having them as guards. Plus when you think about it, you can't be the only person wrongly imprisoned in Azkaban. I'm sure there are more innocent people but no one knows because they are all probably insane by now, that's if they haven't killed themselves in there already. I understand that your time in Azkaban can't be explained easily. I do want to talk about it at another time though, I think a lot the effects from being there for so long are leading you to feel this way now. But I need you to promise me Sirius, not to fight this alone. Come to me, Remus or even Carissa and tell us how you feel, because you not being around will leave a greater impact on Harry then what you think at the moment. Plus I'm sure there are others that do like you and who would of been effected greatly if you had ended things like you were planning. I've only known you a day and would have been upset if I had walked in any later then I did." Amy pleaded with Sirius.

"I'll try my best but sometimes my thoughts just overpower me. I convince myself that Harry is best off without me"

"And that is why we will change those thoughts and how you see your life. I know it's hard to feel good while you feel stuck here but I'm going try my best to make things not so boring for you. Because when we are bored that's when our minds are start to overthink things and I think that is what is happening to you. Too much time alone with your thoughts." Amy grabbed her laptop and walked over at sat next to Sirius on the bed.

"Let's lighten the mood up a bit now shall we? How about we do something fun to take your mind away from being stuck here for a bit? This is my computer and we pretty much have the power to find the answers to anything we want to know."

"Anything?" Sirius repeated.

"Yes, but you have to sort through what is true and what's not though because anyone can say whatever they like on the internet. We can also watch videos, play music and do heaps of other stuff on here. Now, I'm going to show you why I call you Muttley." Amy said grinning at Sirius.

"Isn't it because I'm a dog?" Sirius said looking puzzled.

"Partly, but Muttley was actually a cartoon dog who was a sidekick to this evil dude called Dick Dastardly in a show called Wacky Races. Anyway I figured that since everyone thinks you a Voldie's right hand man and a dog, the name suits you perfectly." Amy answered as she found the cartoon she was after and started playing the video.

"Wow, is there much more stuff like this" Sirius said after they had watched three episodes of the show.

"Yeah, there are heaps of different tv shows and movies that you can watch." Amy said.

"You need to show Arthur this tonight, he is going to go crazy when he finds out there more ways to learn about Muggles and how much their technology is changing." Sirius said and Amy noticed that Sirius seemed excited himself.

They continued to watch videos for another hour until there was a knock on the door. Amy undid the silencing charm and unlocked the door "Come in" she called.

Remus walked in "Molly wanted me to find you both and let you know to come down for dinner. If you aren't too busy."

"Ok no problems." Amy said and started to shut down her laptop. Sirius hoped off the bed and went to the leave the room but just as he reached the door he stopped and turned around "Hey Amy"

"Yeah Muttley." She said looking up at Sirius from her bed.

"Thanks for the talk, it helped little I think." Sirius said smiling at her.

"Don't worry about it, come and see me any time. Now come on lets go show off Google to Arthur." Amy said as she walked over to follow Sirius and Remus out the door.

Remus followed Sirius downstairs but was slightly confused over what he had just seen and heard. Amy and Sirius had obviously been having a big discussion about Sirius but yet when Remus walked in they looked quite comfortable, watching Amy's computer as if they hadn't discussed anything bad at all. Hopefully Sirius would tell him soon what had happened because he really wanted his friend to find happiness in something before this war took it all away again.

**_A/N- Sirius weight was based on the BMI scale. I'm not a Dr so this is just me roughly working out what his weight would need to be to be underweight. I live in Australia so we don't use pounds, we lose kilos so again this was a rough estimate. I, of course don't own Google, Muttley, Dick Dastardly or the Wacky Races show._**

**_Chapter title based on the song Demons by Imagine Dragons_**


	9. Welcome to My Nightmare

**_A/N- All characters belong to J.K Rowling _**

**_Previously - Remus followed Sirius downstairs but was slightly confused over what he had just seen and heard. Amy and Sirius had obviously been having a big discussion about Sirius but yet when Remus walked in they looked quite comfortable, watching Amy's computer as if they hadn't discussed anything bad at all. Hopefully Sirius would tell him soon what had happened because he really wanted his friend to find happiness in something before this war took it all away again._**

**_Chapter 9- Welcome to my Nightmare_**

Hours later Amy crashed down on her bed. It had been a long exhausting night and she hadn't expected Arthur and Sirius to be as enthusiastic as they were about looking through her computer. She had lost track of how many questions she had answered and had also put up with Sirius making fun of Ainsley all night. Sirius had seen a photo of Ainsley and her together on her Facebook page and for some reason decided he didn't like Ainsley. Amy tried to get Sirius to stop, by explaining that he had never met Ainsley so he shouldn't judge him but Sirius refused saying that he had seen and heard enough about Ainsley already.

One good thing Amy had noticed was that Sirius didn't have anything to drink through the night. He and Arthur had been so busy with her computer, that Sirius didn't even realise he hadn't had any alcohol. Amy hoped this was a start to Sirius taking better care of himself, before it was too late to save him.

Amy closed her eyes and was slowly drifting to sleep, when she felt something cold touch her face. She opened her eyes and sat up quickly, once again she could feel someone watching her. She reached out to grab at whatever the invisible force was, but there was nothing there.

She felt the cold touch again a few seconds later "Alright who is there? This isn't funny." Amy called out, but got no reply. Amy could still feel someone watching her so she jumped out of the bed to walk around the room, trying to figure out who was doing a terrific job of scaring her. She even tried to see their aura so she had some idea of where they were hiding.

Amy felt the coldness again, this time on her arm and she cried out in fear. "Stop it please!" Amy's heart was starting to race now, she couldn't see an aura anywhere but yet she could still sense someone in her room.

Amy stood still, trying to figure out what was happening. When she felt the coldness on her arm again she muttered to herself "Fuck this shit, I'm sleeping in Carissa's room tonight."

Amy was really frightened now and she didn't care if whoever was doing this found it funny or not, because she certainly wasn't staying in this room. Amy picked up her pillow off the bed and went running out the door, almost tripping over her own feet. As soon as she was out the door Amy felt the coldness again. This time it felt like it was actually trying to pull her back towards her room. "Just let me go!" Amy pleaded with the invisible force but she couldn't move. She just stood there frozen with fear while this coldness tried pulling her in the opposite direction of where she wanted to go. It was then she heard cries coming from Sirius's room.

"Stop it, mother please."

"What the…?" Amy started to say before she heard Sirius again.

"Please mother no, not that one. You can't use that on me, I'm your son."

"Sirius." Amy yelled. She dropped her pillow on the floor, forgetting about whatever had been trying to scare her and ran quickly to his room.

Once inside, Amy saw Sirius shaking uncontrollably begging his mother to stop torturing him. He stopped shaking for a minute but then started crying out again "James, wake up please. Don't be dead, no, no. Don't joke about this James, it's not funny." Now Sirius was tossing and turning all over the bed.

Amy couldn't bear to watch any longer, so she walked over and started trying to wake him up "Sirius wake up please." She shook him gently at first but he wouldn't wake up, so she shook him harder.

He woke with a start, grabbing her arm so tightly it was hurting her. He was looking at her wide eyed, his hair all mattered and sweat dripping down his face.

"Sirius, it's Amy. It was just a dream, you're ok" she said trying to soothe him.

"It's ok, I'm here now" She said as she slowly sat on the bed next to him, so they were now side by side. Sirius still held her arm but at least he had lessoned his grip and it was no longer hurting her.

They sat there for five minutes while Amy muttered reassuring words, to try and calm Sirius down some more.

"I'm so sorry Amy. I didn't mean for you to see me like this. I must of forgot the silencing charm." Sirius said as he tried to get off the bed, too embarrassed to look Amy in the eyes.

"Don't be silly" Amy replied, pulling Sirius back down.

"Look at me Sirius please" Amy pleaded with Sirius, while forcing him to face her. "I understand that it is probably going to be hard for you to open up to a complete stranger but you can trust me Sirius. I know exactly what you are thinking now but I don't think you are weak at all. I think life has dealt you a pretty shit hand and it has taken its toll on you. There is no shame in letting me know what is happening to you Sirius, I've told you before I won't breathe a word of this to anyone. I know you probably are still afraid to trust me completely after what has happened to you in the past but you need to let me in Sirius. All I'm asking, is for you to have a little faith in me and I am pretty sure I can help you get through this. Talk to me please Sirius, what are these nightmares doing to you?"

Sirius didn't respond at first and Amy was starting to worry that he wouldn't open up at all.

"I suppose I should tell you, since you are the only person around here that listens to me anyway. These nightmares happen every night, they are the reason I drink so much. Every night it is either memories of James dead or my mum coming back to haunt me and tell me how I don't deserve to be here anymore. They only stop once I have drunk enough to pass out, which is getting harder and harder to do since I am building a resistance to the effects of alcohol. The nightmares bring all the bad memories back, especially James death. They remind me constantly how much I still miss him and that I could have prevented this all." Sirius finally answered.

"You are not to blame for James not being here, Peter and Voldemort are the ones to blame. I know this sounds harsh but if James and Lily didn't die, the war could have gone on for a lot longer and we could be in an even worse situation now. Voldemort and his supporters had the numbers towards the end and they wouldn't have stopped until all Muggleborns had been executed, including me. In a way James and Lily dying, saved an unknown amount lives. I know that doesn't bring your friends back but neither does punishing yourself for something you couldn't have stopped. Have you told anyone else about these nightmares? It seems like they are affecting you pretty badly." Amy said.

"No, I think Remus suspects why I drink so much but won't say anything because he knows I'll just deny it. I considered asking Dumbledore about a dreamless sleep potion as a temporary fix but he will just ask Snape to make it and knowing Snape he would quite happily poison me instead. So I had no other choice but to drink myself stupid, so I could at least get some sleep every now and then."

Amy didn't reply for a minute, trying to think of what she could do to help.

"I have an idea that should work. I can quite easily make a sleeping potion for you, since my second best subject at school was potions. I'll be around to make sure that we don't use it for too long and cause any long term issues. Plus if we continue with our sessions, you shouldn't need to be on the potions for too long. You certainly can't keep having these nightmares and definitely can't use alcohol to block the memories all the time." Amy suggested.

"I still don't understand why you are helping me? You barely know me and to everyone else I'm just wretched, bitter, ungrateful bastard. Everything I love ends up disappearing right in front of my eyes. Half the time I think mother was right about me being no good to anybody." Sirius sighed.

"Please don't say that Sirius. You may be those other things at times but yet I have seen your loyalty, humour and love for those close to you. We are all human Sirius, we all have good things and bad things about us. While I'm sure you can be a bastard when you want to be, you have done nothing wrong to me and I am not giving up on you. I will help you Sirius but you have to help yourself a little too please." Amy replied and then added lightly "Plus I kind of like you and want to get to know more about you."

" Ohhh you like me, I knew it! Was it my fabulous good looks or my charming personality that got you hooked?" Sirius joked.

"Not like that you git, as a friend. Anyway, it takes more than good looks and charms to win me over." Amy replied playfully hitting Sirius on the arm.

"Challenge accepted, fair maiden."

"You forget, you can't win me over when I already have a boyfriend. I am not a cheater." Amy retorted but was having a hard time concentrating when Sirius decided to give her a smile that made her heart race.

"Makes the challenge even more fun. I shall duel with this Ainsley demon if I have to and I shall return as your knight in Black Armour. My kingdom shall be yours fair maiden." Sirius continued joking.

"Isn't it shining armour? And what kingdom?" Amy asked, trying to remain calm but she ended up giggling at his antics anyway.

"Not for you my dear, I shall wear Black Armour just like your favourite hero Batman."

"After everything that has happened today you somehow remember that." Amy shook her head but was still laughing "I've been with Ainsley for months now and he still doesn't remember that."

"Of course I do, I kind of like you too. You listen to me without judging but are also quick to tell me when I have acted like a jerk. You have such a kind and caring nature, I hate tarnishing you by you being near me. I just hope dealing with my past doesn't destroy your beautiful nature" Sirius spoke sincerely.

"Maybe fate sent me here for a reason Sirius, maybe I am meant to be near you to help take away some of the darkness. I can still see it in your aura now, the darkness is all around you still. You can't keep living with it that dark." Amy responded as she checked his aura again.

"Do you believe in fate?" Sirius asked.

"Yes I do. I think life is 80 % fate and 20% what we make of it. Some people are just born lucky, were everything just goes their way. Other people can work so hard and still end up with nothing, no matter what they do."

"So why would fate make my life so difficult then. What would be the point of that? Or why does fate take away people or babies even?" Sirius questioned, interested in Amy's theory.

"Perhaps their souls were needed elsewhere, maybe as guardian angels to help protect someone else who may grow up to make a difference to the world. Maybe certain souls are reincarnated and they are born into families that need that persons qualities in their life. Maybe you needed to go through Azkaban to prepare you for what is coming ahead. Maybe if you hadn't been there, your life might have been lost in some other accident and you couldn't be here for Harry now. Perhaps James and Lily are watching over other people guiding them on their destiny to create a better future for everyone."

"I'm not exactly helping Harry from here am I?" Sirius insisted.

"But you can, you can have a greater influence on him then you think. He has a crazy person after him and has been lucky to survive so far. He needs to know what else he can do to survive, until someone can take down Voldemort for good." Amy encouraged.

"Dumbledore can't even defeat Voldemort, how on earth can anyone else? What could I possibly do from here to help anyone?" Sirius argued.

"Good question but think about it. Voldemort had to have something that kept him alive in some shape or form. But to find out what that was we would have to go further back in time. He had to be a boy at some stage, if we find out about his past, I'm certain we could find out why he didn't die. Find out who he talked too, who his teachers were, that sort of thing. One person may not be able to defeat him but if a bunch of people work together surely we can work out how to do it or at least make it easier for Harry, if it has to be Harry that defeats him again for some stupid reason. Someone has to know something, to bring Voldemort down."

"I don't know Amy, I can't exactly do that on my own. I know his name because both Ginny and Harry have mentioned it to me before. I think it was Tom Riddle or something like that. What else can I do?" Sirius asked.

"His name is a start. There are yearbooks in the library at Hogwarts, so I can have a look through them while I am there for any information on a Tom Riddle. Your family was massively into dark arts, surely somewhere in this house there is some clue as to what made him immortal. You could search your library for any books or notes that list ways of becoming immortal." Amy answered.

"That still doesn't explain how we defeat him." Sirius protested.

"One step at a time, find out more about Tom Riddle and then find his weakness. Once we know his weakness, we can use that against him." replied Amy.

"What about Harry? He is going to want to be involved in all of this."

"Remus used to teach defence, get him to show Harry stuff that is more advanced. Harry can't go around like everyone else, he has to be more skilled because he has a target on his back. In fact all the kids here probably do, knowing they are so close to Harry, they all should be better trained in Defence than anyone else. They don't need to know about our search on how to destroy Voldemort, just how to defend themselves properly if they are attacked."

"Why can't you teach them? You seem to be good at everything else, and Molly might actually agree to let you teach them rather than Remus or I." Sirius asked.

"Are you kidding me I was hopeless at defence. I could get the theory right but not the practical. Kingsley actually helped me when I was at school so I could pass my practical exam otherwise I couldn't be a healer."explained Amy.

"How could you be bad at Defence? It's everyone's favourite subject." Sirius said looking shocked.

"Not mine, I just couldn't react quickly enough during a duel. Kingsley helped me practice for my exams but I still only just passed." Amy answered.

"What were your favourite subjects then?" Sirius asked curiously.

"As I said before Potions was one of my best subjects but this is going to make you laugh. My favourite by far was Astronomy."

"Really, why Astronomy? It was one of my best subjects but only because I had an advantage with my family being obsessed with stars. Why did you like it so much?"

"Something about looking up at the stars at night and wondering about what else is really out there. I mean I come from a place where witches, wizards, werewolves, vampires all shouldn't exist but they do, so why wouldn't there be other life out there somewhere in the universe?" Amy replied.

" I don't know, I suppose that you could be right" Sirius contemplated.

" One thing that I do know though, is that I'm glad you decided to stay here. You being here the last few nights has made feel a little bit happier and helped me forget every so often why I have been so miserable." Sirius told Amy.

"See I knew it, you're just a big softy aren't you. Come here you." Amy said grabbing Sirius and pulling him into a hug.

Sirius tensed up a bit at first, still not being used to having someone he barely knew touching him but he relaxed after a few seconds.

Amy let go "Are you ok going back to sleep? Otherwise I can crash on the floor, I don't mind. I don't want to leave you alone, if these nightmares return." What Amy didn't add, was that she didn't want to go back out and face that invisible force again. Whatever the fuck that was, it certainly scared her.

" I don't know, usually if I wake up like this, I go down grab 3 or 4 more drinks and then fall back asleep." Sirius said.

"Instead of that, how about I stay in here the night and that way I can wake you up if I need to when the dreams get bad again." Amy suggested.

"Ok but you can have the bed and I'll sleep on the floor." Sirius agreed.

"I can't kick you out of own bed"

"Well, I'm not letting your sleep on the floor, not for you my fair maiden."

"Look we are both adults, I suppose we can just stay in the one bed but I'm warning you that I am a bed hog." Amy compromised.

"That's fine, I'll just push you out of the bed if I have to." Sirius joked.

"Such a gentleman and by the way do not mention this to Carissa, otherwise I'll have to put up with the sexual innuendos for the next month." Amy advised.

"I won't mention it to anyone and I promise I won't try and make any moves on you. I'm not sure who would kill me first Carissa or Molly." Sirius promised.

"Pfft you forgot about me buddy, you try anything on me and you will have a certain part of your body dismembered. Plus I might accidently let it slip to Ainsley, that you tried to steal his girlfriend." Amy threatened.

"What would Ainsley really think if he found out about you being here? Not in my bed, just in this house in general." Sirius questioned.

"I would be in deep shit, I'd have to change my name and move to the Australian Outback where he couldn't find me. I don't think many boyfriends would take to kindly to hearing their girlfriend is helping a wanted criminal and that she spent a night sleeping in his bed, no matter how innocent everything is. I mean what would you do if you were him?"

Sirius smirked and Amy knew some ridiculous answer was about to come out of his mouth. "Amy love, if I was Ainsley you wouldn't be here in the first place. You would never want to leave my bed because unlike Ainsley, I know how to please a women and keep her coming back for more." he said while wiggling his eyebrows at her.

Amy went bright red and got embarrassed "Ainsley isn't that bad in the bed"

"Well he can't be that good otherwise you would have said he was great in bed." Sirius retorted.

"I highly doubt you should be talking, I wouldn't think you would see much action in Azkaban. I wouldn't be a bit surprised if your parts didn't work anymore." Amy shot back.

"Only one way to find out love. When you get sick of that git Ainsley, come to me and I'll show you what a real man is like. There is more than one way to please a woman after all." Sirius said, giving Amy a smile that made her blush again.

Amy jumped up quickly off the bed and said "Inappropriate much. I am going to get my pillow and shall return. You in the meantime give yourself a cold shower and just for the record, Ainsley's love making skills are superb." as she ran quickly out of the room.

"Liar." she heard Sirius call out as she entered the hallway.

Once Amy found her pillow, she took a few deep breaths. This flirtatious side of Sirius, she did not like. Sirius was dangerous, she knew that but not in the way everyone else thought. He was dangerous because Amy found being around him more enjoyable than being around her own boyfriend. Sirius actually listened to her and made her feel good about herself for once. He was dangerous because he was witty, charming and surprisingly as she had discovered through the night, very intelligent. He was dangerous because he made her think of inappropriate things and had planted that seed in her head that made her wonder if he really would he be better than Ainsley.

Of course not Amy, she mentally slapped herself. He is wanted fugitive, who is only flirting with you because you are the closest female to him. He probably flirts with the other women in the Order too. Snap out of this, you are a grown women who can control herself and not throw yourself at some guy just because he is a flirt. Now go back in there, control yourself and remember you will be seeing Ainsley soon. As long as you remember Ainsley, nothing more then friendship can happen between you and Sirius.

Once Amy had finished mentally arguing with herself, she returned Sirius room.

"I thought you might have changed your mind." Sirius commented.

"I was considering it after the last conversation. Just remember if you try anything on me, I will damage your most treasured possession." Amy warned.

"I promise, I will leave you untarnished. Tonight anyway."

"Good, now let me try to get some sleep. Some of us do have to work in the morning." Amy said, letting Sirius get away with the last comment.

"Goodnight Amy, I am not sure how I can ever repay you for everything but thank you." Sirius said, leaning over and kissing her on the cheek before rolling over with his back towards her.

"Goodnight Sirius, I hope you don't have any more nightmares but I'll be here if you need me."

Amy was about to close her eyes when something popped in her head. What if whatever that force was before, hadn't been trying to drag her into her room? What if it had wanted her to stay, because it knew Sirius was having those nightmares? If this was the case who or what was trying to help him and why wouldn't they answer her when she called out?

**A/N- Who is this mysterious person or creature? Who would want to try and help Sirius? Any ideas? Let me know who you think it could be and why Amy can't see their aura. In the next two chapters- Sirius and Amy both have some explaining to do.**** We find out how our lovebirds Carissa and Kingsley are going.**** Amy finally gets a chance to tell Ainsley about her new "job." **** An Order meeting brings some interesting news.**

**Thankyou for reading xxx**


	10. Dessert

**A/N- All characters belong to J.K Rowling. The last few chapters have been a bit dark lately, so this chapter I have gone more light and fluffy. Plus the world could do with a bit of light and fluffy nonsense at the moment.**

**Previously- Amy was about to close her eyes when something popped in her head. What if whatever that force was before hadn't been trying to drag her into her room? What if it had wanted her to stay because it knew Sirius was having those nightmares? If this was the case who or what was trying to help him**.

Chapter 10 - Dessert

The next morning when Amy woke up, she felt something heavy laying on top of her. She quickly realised that sometime in the middle of the night Sirius had decided to roll over, put his arm around her and cuddle her.

Amy wasn't sure what to do, she needed to get ready for work but didn't want to disturb Sirius either. She decided the best option was to slowly slide out of bed and tiptoe out of the room. This didn't go to plan however because as soon she went to move, Sirius held her tighter and closer to him.

Alright, Amy thought to herself, maybe I just need to move a bit quicker. Amy rolled over as hard as she could this time. She broke out of Sirius's arms but also managed to miss time everything and ended up falling out of the bed. She landed with a massive thud on the bedroom floor and a tangle of sheets around her.

"Ouch"

"Are you alright down there Amy?" Sirius said looking down at her from the bed, the noise having woken him up.

"Sorry. I tried not to wake you up, but obviously I wasn't successful." Amy apologised.

Sirius laughed "Do you need any help getting up?"

"No, stay there, I'm fine. You try and have a bit more sleep. I've got to get ready for work." Amy replied as she got up off the floor and threw the sheets back on the bed.

Amy left Sirius and returned to her room to get ready. Sirius shook his head, that women was definitely weird. He was just about to go back to sleep when he heard a knock on his door, he figured it must have been Amy again.

"Just walk back in Amy, I promise that I'm still fully clothed." Sirius joked, but then got a shock when he saw Remus standing at the doorway.

"Do I want to know why you thought I was Amy?" Remus questioned.

"Umm no."

"Sirius, what have you done?" Remus demanded to know, thinking his friend had done something bad to Amy.

"Me? I did nothing, in fact I was a perfect gentlemen. You can even go and ask Amy if you want." Sirius cried out.

"Care to explain why it smells like Amy spent the night in here then?" Remus prodded, his werewolf senses were kicking in and he could smell her scent everywhere.

"That's because she did. But before you start yelling at me for being stupid and immature, let me speak in my defence." Sirius gave a dramatic pause before jumping out of his bed and announcing "I did not have sexual relations with that women, Ms Johnson."

"Oh god, I forgot how amusing you thought that whole sordid affair was. Please tell me that you are telling the truth though? The last thing we need is you doing something rash and driving Amy and Carissa away."

"Of course I am telling the truth. Do you really think that I'm that stupid? First of all, I barely know Amy, I am not going to fuck her after only two days of knowing her. Second of all, I had a really bad night and Amy helped me deal with some of my issues. I really think I can lower my guard with her and I am slowly learning that I can trust some people. Thirdly, if you really must know, I'm not even sure that Willy could even do anything anymore. The last shag I had was a year or two after we left Hogwarts and it's not like I got any in Azkaban. And even though Willy may still be willing, I doubt he would last more thirty seconds. Hell, for all I know he would get frightened at seeing a women's privates parts again and just shrivel up. Not an experience that I really want to happen. So Willy will be staying in my pants for now, unlike a certain Ex-President of America. Although I can't promise that I won't flirt with her though, it is kind of fun watching her struggle to think of any come back lines."

Remus sighed "I didn't really need to know that last part about your penis and what you call him. Just be careful Sirius, I can tell you are already forming a closer bond with Amy, then you have with anyone else in the Order and I would hate to see you get hurt."

"Yes but Amy isn't like everyone else in the Order. Did you ever think maybe that's why I like the women? I love having her around, although I am going to have to work on getting her to dump that boyfriend of hers. Amy is too good for him, she deserves better."

"Do you really think that is necessary? I'm sure Amy won't like it, especially if you start meddling with her love life." Remus said.

"Nonsense, I just have to conspire with Carissa and I'm sure we can think of something to end them for good. Enough about that though, how come you are here anyway?" Sirius asked.

"To inform you that I won't be here most of the day. Dumbledore wants to meet me to discuss some mission." Remus answered.

"What the hell does he want you to do now? It better not be to go under cover with the werewolves again, you can tell him to get fucked if that's the case." Sirius said angrily.

"Sirius, it isn't that easy" Remus argued.

"Yes, it is Remus. Look what happened last time, you looked like hell, you almost died, I blamed you for being a traitor and it cost us our friendship. I'm sure as hell not going to let him do that to you again." Sirius replied.

"What am I supposed do then Sirius? Dumbledore has done so much to help me over the years."

"Stay here with me. Help me teach Harry how to defend himself and the other kids. Help me find a way to defeat Voldemort. Amy and I have a plan of some sort, we are going to take down Voldemort but we will probably need your help. Fuck, you could probably get a job in the Muggle world to make money, if you need it. Carissa managed to do it, there are companies out there that help wizards get qualifications to work in the Muggle world. Anything but going back to living amongst the packs." Sirius continued to argue.

"I don't know Sirius, look we don't even know if that's what is happening anyway. We will worry about that later. Plus I seriously doubt that you and Amy can stop Voldemort, even Dumbledore hasn't been able to." Remus still objected.

"Yes, but Dumbledore isn't infallible. There has to be something that he has overlooked. Look let's not talk about this now, we can discuss it after you have seen Dumbledore. Let's go and get something to eat." Sirius said as his stomach growled.

Sirius walked with Remus out to get breakfast but as they went past Amy's door, they heard something weird. It sounded like Amy was arguing with herself.

"Stupid, random no aura being"

"Making me sleep in someone else's room"

"Must remember Ainsley. Sirius bad, Ainsley good."

"You are meant to be seeing Ainsley in a three more days, which is good."

"But you haven't really missed Ainsley. In fact you have enjoyed being around Sirius more."

"I know Sirius is tempting but he isn't stable. Sirius is like dessert, only good in small amounts. Ainsley is like a fruit or vegetable, good for you."

Sirius and Remus looked at each other, both men slightly puzzled.

"Did Amy just refer to her boyfriend as a fruit or vegetable?" Remus asked.

"Probably, she is a bit weird like that. You just have to roll with whatever she comes out with. You missed the important part though, she called me dessert. I'm going to have so much fun with this." Sirius said grinning madly.

"But she also called you unstable." Remus argued.

"Minor detail Remus."

Sirius opened Amy's door without knocking before Remus could stop him. Remus at least had the courtesy to wait outside but still heard everything that was happening.

Sirius walked inside Amy's room and got a major surprise. Amy was bent over searching through her trunk, however she only had her bra and underwear on.

"Nice Batman underwear love." Sirius commented while checking out Amy's bum.

Amy shrieked, turned around and threw the first thing at him that she could find, one of her work shoes.

"Ouch, settle down love. I was just paying you a complement." Sirius said, while holding the shoe that had just hit him on his head.

"You inconsiderate git, just barging in here like that. What if I was naked!?" Amy yelled, as she stomped over to retrieve her shoe from Sirius.

"Oh love, I would like nothing more to see those panties off you. I could think of some very creative things to do without them. After all, I am so tempting, just like dessert. Very, very bad for you." Sirius handed Amy back her shoe, but was laughing at her as he spoke.

Amy went bright red but wouldn't admit to being so embarrassed that Sirius had overheard her talking to herself. She grabbed the shoe off Sirius and stormed into the bathroom.

"You are a jerk, you know." Amy called out from the bathroom.

"But you wouldn't have me any other way. By the way Amy, you can have some dessert later tonight. I'll be here waiting for you." Sirius sniggered as he walked back out of the room.

"Piss off." Amy yelled back.

"Did you really have to do that to the poor women? You're lucky she didn't run off last night." Remus said, as he and Sirius made their way to the kitchen.

"Amy is fine, if she didn't like it she would tell me. Trust me, she threatened to hex poor Willy off last night, if I so much as attempted anything. Poor Willy was frightened." Sirius said looking down at his pants.

"But you don't do tease Hestia, Emmeline or Carissa like that."

"Don't do what with me?" Carissa's voice was heard as she entered the kitchen behind them.

"I don't tease you, like I do Amy. Mind you, Kingsley would probably feed me to the Dementors if I did. As for Emmeline and Hestia, they are not as fun to be around as Amy and I can't say I trust them completely." Sirius said shrugging his shoulders, as all three of them sat down at the kitchen table.

"You didn't hurt Amy at all did you? Because as her best friend, it would be my duty to inflict mass amounts of pain on you if you did." Carissa warned.

"Nothing like that, just some fun and games. Speaking of best friends though, I have a question for you." Sirius answered.

"What about?" Carissa asked.

"Why do you allow Amy to date that idiot Ainsley?" Sirius asked.

"Because, although I agree that he is an idiot, I can't exactly stop her. He used to treat her really well until a few months ago when we travelled overseas for her brother's wedding. Ainsley got upset because Amy and her cousin Adam got drunk at the reception. They did one of the most hilarious versions of the Nutbush, I have ever seen but Ainsley did not appreciate it. Since then their relationship has slowly gone downhill and he tries to control everything Amy does. Nothing she does is good enough any more." Carissa explained.

"I remember that dance, Lily and James had it at their wedding. Ainsley got upset over that and the fact Amy had a few drinks at her brother's wedding?" Sirius questioned.

Carissa just nodded her head in acknowledgement.

"So we might not be able to break them up yet but we could perhaps make his life a little more difficult. This jerk needs to pay somehow and hopefully soon Amy will come to her senses." Sirius said.

"How can we make him pay though?" Carissa asked.

"What is Ainsley's biggest fear?" Sirius asked.

Carissa smirked "Squids"

"What?" Remus and Sirius exclaimed together.

"When Ainsley was at Hogwarts, he fell into the Great Lake. However he insists that the giant squid tried to pull down and kill him but I'm fairly certain, he only said that to get attention. I'm sure the squid was just trying to push him up. I remember one year we tried throwing so much stuff into the lake and every single item got retuned. Plus I'm sure heaps of other kids have either fallen or been pushed in before and none of them claimed to have been almost murdered by the giant squid." Carissa explained.

"So we maybe we can transfigure different objects into squids. Send him random mementos that have squids in them but then make them disappear before he can call anyone else to see it. We will probably need to get Tonks and Kingsley to help us out with it, so we can get him at his work too. Slowly drive him mad." Sirius suggested.

"It will be difficult, but I am sure we can figure it out. You have yourself a deal, I'm glad to have someone helping me with this." Carissa said shaking Sirius's hand.

"What are you figuring out?" they heard Amy's voice say, from the kitchen door.

" Why Amy, what your favourite dessert is of course. I thought that you would be strawberries and cream kind of girl. Into all the sweet and innocent looking stuff." Sirius said smirking at her.

Amy's face went red once again but she managed to retort "Actually, you are wrong Muttley. My favourite dessert is chocolate mint slice."

"I should have figured that you would like something with a twist. Can't say that I've ever had it but it sounds rather exciting." Sirius said, wiggling his eyebrows at her.

"I don't even know what that is supposed to mean but I don't have time for this. I am going to work now, I just come here to say good bye to everyone. Now good day." Amy stomped out of the room, frustrated at herself for letting Sirius over hear her earlier.

Carissa looking puzzled by the exchange said "Should I ask, what that was about?"

Remus who had been mostly silent the whole time, answered quickly "Please don't. I've heard enough innuendo about dessert this morning, to put me off having any ever again."

**A/N- Thanks for reading everyone. Don't forgot if you like the story, let me know. Leave a comment on what you like most or any theories you may have on who/ what the thing is in Amy's room.**


	11. The Hulk

**A/N – Thanks for all the reviews and feedback everyone! I am so happy that someone else is enjoying the story. As usual JK Rowling owns everything Harry Potter. I know I said we would meet Ainsley this chapter but it didn't work out that way. Amy and he will definitely be meeting in the next chapter.**

**Previously- **

**Carissa looking puzzled by the exchange said "Should I ask, what that was about?"**

**Remus who had been mostly silent the whole time, answered quickly "Please don't. I've heard enough innuendo about dessert this morning, to put me off having any ever again."**

Chapter 11- The Hulk

It had been three days since the "Dessert" incident as Amy now called it and she was in a furious mood. She was currently punching a boxing bag that she had set up in the Order's meeting room, trying to get rid of her anger.

"Stupid old fool."

"Child endangerment." Amy muttered as she hit the punching bag again.

"What's got you in such a state?" Amy heard Sirius's voice from behind her.

Amy spun around and saw him learning up against the doorway. She nearly had a heart attack when she looked at him. Sirius had decided to wash and trim his hair so even though it was still shoulder length, it looked neat and tidy. He had also trimmed his beard and moustache and had found some old expensive looking muggle clothes of his from somewhere in the house. This combined with the fact he had been starting to exercise, eat healthily and take better care of himself, in Amy's opinion made him even more good looking.

"Nice haircut. I like what you have done with your new image." Amy finally spoke after taking in his new appearance.

"Thanks, I thought I should probably clean up a bit. Why are you harming that poor innocent bag?" Sirius asked, still leaning up against the doorway.

"Because Dumbledore is a giant git. Do you know how much danger Harry has been in over the last 4 years?" Amy fumed.

"Only some of it. Harry and I haven't talked much about his previous years, with me being on the run and all that, plus no one else has wanted to tell me much. Probably worried, I'd go do something rash." Sirius answered.

"I just can't believe a fifteen year old has had to deal with a giant snake, a possessed teacher that no one noticed, a teacher that was an imposter, a stupid ass tournament that should never have been agreed to, a giant spider, a three headed dog, dragons and a supposed mass murderer gaining access to the school. That is not right, how could the greatest wizard in this fucking world not have dealt with it himself. If any of that shit happened at a Muggle school, people would be getting sacked and possibly criminal charges would be laid for child neglect." Amy ranted and she turned around and started punching the bag again.

"When you sum it up like that, it doesn't sound good. Maybe if I had been around, he wouldn't have gone through it all." Sirius conceded.

"No Sirius, this isn't your fault. There are plenty of other people that should have stepped up to help Harry but they were too blinded by Dumbledore. Do you really think McGonagall would let any other student go back to that? No she wouldn't, neither would any other kid's parents allow them back. I can almost guarantee the only reason Hermione is still at Hogwarts, is because she hasn't told her parents about all the bad stuff they have got into over the years. Dumbledore allowed it all to happen, when he should have made that school the safest place possible. Just because we are magic, doesn't mean we can just ignore basic safety. Funny how when the adults should be stepping up, it's takes a bunch of kids to save the day."

Amy was about to throw another punch when Remus come running into the room.

"There's an emergency Order meeting being called. Everyone will be arriving soon, so you might what to rearrange the room."

"Any idea what this meeting is about Remus?" Sirius asked.

"No idea." Remus answered as he helped Sirius and Amy change the room back around.

Order members soon started arriving and entering the room one by one. A few of them commenting on Sirius's' new image.

Once everyone was seated Dumbledore started the meeting.

"I called this meeting because I have some very grave news. Sturgis Podmore was arrested at the Ministry last night. He was caught attempting to break into the Department of Mysteries. We believe he was put under Imperious curse by a Death Eater, possibly Lucius Malfoy and is now in Azkaban for six months."

"Wait, when did this happen?" Amy questioned.

'Last night, around one in the morning." Kingsley answered.

"Fuck, fuck, fuck. He was right." Amy got up and started pacing around.

"Amy calm down and tell us what is going on." Carissa said.

"Harry knew about it. Well kind of. Voldemort was not happy last night, Harry saw him torturing one of his followers. Obviously because they couldn't get the prophecy, he was pissed off. Had you been replying to me Dumbledore you would of known Harry's dreams are getting worse and a becoming more like visions of what Voldemort is up to." Amy explained while glaring at Dumbledore.

"Dumbledore is a busy man, who cannot drop everything because a little boy has a nightmare." Snape sneered.

Amy was ready to retort but McGonagall cut her off. "What are we doing about Harry and these visions? Surely they must mean something?"

"Finally, someone actually worrying about the boy's safety." Amy muttered but everyone still heard her.

"What do you mean?' Molly asked.

"I don't know, does having to deal with giant snakes, possessed teachers, dangerous tournaments and a fucking evil megalomaniac sound like a safe nurturing environment for someone to attend school." Amy was yelling at them all now. "If it was up to me, I'd have him out of Hogwarts and shipped off to another school. I've had to put the kid on dreamless sleep potion because no one else has bothered to see how he was coping over Cedric's death."

"Who gave you authority to do that?" Hestia asked glaring at Amy.

"I did, the minute I saw him at the Dursley's. I have done more for Harry in the last week with checking up on his health, then you lot have ever done. You all claim to be here for him but you left him there to be treated like garbage." Amy shouted as she stood up out of her seat.

"What the hell do you know about this? We don't even know anything about you, you could be slowly poisoning him." Hestia yelled back.

Amy couldn't take it anymore, she felt her anger rise uncontrollably. She grabbed the first thing near her which was a glass of water and threw it at Hestia, it just missed Hestia's head by a centimetre. It ended up smashing against the wall behind her and breaking into pieces.

"Listen here bitch, if you or anyone else so much as questions my loyalty to Harry or Sirius one more time, I swear you won't like the consequences." Amy threatened Hestia and then stormed out of the room before she did something worse to her.

Everyone starting arguing at once after that, some in favour of Amy and others agreeing with Hestia. Sirius was the only one to get up and go and look for Amy while the others continued to argue.

Sirius found her pacing around the kitchen.

"Are you okay love?"

"No, I just am so angry at the moment. I just want to get a plate and smash it over Hestia's head."

Sirius chuckled "I wouldn't advise that, I think the cup probably frightened her enough already."

"I just can't understand how they can sit there and pretend that they care, when none of them except the Weasley's have even bothered to look after Harry's welfare. I'm sorry Sirius, I don't like going into my Hulk mood like this but I hate when my ability to do my job gets questioned by people who know nothing about it."

Sirius walked over and grabbed Amy by the arms to stop her pacing.

"Amy, I am Harry's guardian and trust you completely with his safety. I know you would never intentionally harm him. Don't worry about what any of them say, there are plenty of people here that will support you and know that you are good at what you do. The others are probably just scared because you have called them out on their inability to look after Harry properly." Sirius said as he pulled her into him and hugged her.

"Thanks." Amy whispered and they stood there in silence just hugging for a minute.

"Are you going to come back in with me? Or would you rather stay out here?" Sirius asked.

"I'll come in, I need to see what damage I have caused I suppose."

Once they went back into the meeting room, they found everyone still arguing over what had happened. Carissa was arguing with Hestia. Tonks hair had turned bright red and she was arguing with Elphias Doge, calling him an old berk who was stuck in his old ways. Poor Remus and Kingsley were holding both women back, probably worried that they would start throwing curses around soon.

"See what you have done, normally I am the one causing all the trouble." Sirius joked.

"Obviously your bad influence is rubbing off on me." Amy muttered.

Dumbledore spotted the two walking back in and called out "Silence! Now will everyone please return to their seats, so we can sort this mess out before it gets further out of hand!"

Everyone returned to their seats and started to calm down.

"Now first of all Amy, I'm am sorry that I haven't been in contact with you lately but I have been rather busy and I also thought it best if I left Harry to himself for a while. How often is Harry having these nightmares?"

"He has had three since I have been here. They are more like he can see what Voldemort is doing. I'd call them visions, not nightmares."

"If he can see what Voldemort is doing, could the connection be used the other way? Could Voldemort know what is happening here?" Sirius asked

"He doesn't know yet. Harry's dreams have been vivid but I'm positive that Voldemort hasn't worked out that Harry can see him. I don't think it will be long before he does though." Amy replied.

"I would like to speak with Harry myself first but I think it is time that he learns Occlumency. Occlumency is art of blocking one's mind from people being able to read it." Dumbledore said.

'Who would teach him? I was taught by my parents how to read minds and block anyone from reading mine. But after Azkaban I'm not sure exactly what spells I can cast anymore, plus I don't really want Harry to see all the bad memories I have." Sirius questioned.

"Severus here is the best Occlumens that I know besides myself. He has to block his mind from Voldemort seeing his real thoughts constantly. He would be the best choice." Dumbledore answered.

"No fucking way, I am not having that greasy git looking inside my godson's brain. You can clearly see the man hates Harry. How would you feel if someone you hated was able to look into your brain?" Sirius shouted.

"While I certainly do not want to waste my time on that lazy, arrogant boy, I fail to see how your opinion matters in this matter mutt." Snape drawled.

Sirius was about to retort but Amy stopped him quickly and whispered in his ear "Don't fall for it, he wants you to lose control remember. He wants you to snap at him. I know you don't what to be like your family but now is the time to put some of their lessons to good use. How would your father have handled this? I know you have the ability to be sneaky, now is the time to do it. Get Dumbledore to step up, not someone who doesn't even like Harry."

Sirius had a smirk come over his face as he thought about his reply.

"What you also fail to see Severus, is that as Harry's godparent, I have a say in his schooling. I also have a say in who is welcome in this house. I have graciously allowed you in here even though you continue to insult me and my family's home. I would have thought after our last meeting that you would choose your words more wisely."

The whole Order was stunned, they had never seen Sirius act or speak like this. There were always insults between the pair but Sirius had never been this calm when they were arguing.

"This is what is going to happen. Albus, you will find the time to teach Harry Occulmency. I don't care when but you will be the one to teach him. The only time that Severus will be allowed near Harry's mind, is if you are away from the school at the time and can't perform a lesson. If I find out that this isn't the case, not only will I no longer allow Order meetings here but I will take Harry away somewhere safer then England. I will move to Australia if I have too, before I let Snape get inside Harry's head. I can also guarantee that if I leave, there are at least 5 other people sitting at this table that will come with me, including two aurors. I would also bet that I could convince the Weasley's and Mundungus to leave as well." Sirius said.

"If they all leave, you are missing half of the Order and there will be no way for you to win this war. Voldemort can have England but he won't have the power to infiltrate other countries. This is a civil war and there is no way any other Country will allow Voldemort to take over."

"So you would just let the Death eaters take over here and leave us all to die?" Dedalus Diggle said shocked.

"If it meant that Harry and anyone he cared about could get out to safety, then yes. I would allow this entire country to burn because so far Harry and I staying here has gotten us nowhere but treated very badly. So what is your answer Albus?" Sirius said bluntly.

"While I do not agree with your methods of getting your way Sirius, I will find some time to fit Harry in. However I will not give false promises. If I am unavailable, Severus will be conducting Harry's lessons." Amy could see Dumbledore wasn't happy with being forced into teaching Harry but if he had forced Snape to teach Harry anything other than Potions, it would end in disaster. Amy couldn't believe that Dumbledore couldn't see it.

"Now on to further matters, Remus will be going undercover among the werewolf packs within the next week."

"Actually Dumbledore, I never did give you an answer on that." Remus spoke up.

"I beg your pardon."

"We are almost 100% certain that most werewolves will side with Voldemort. Me going there is not going to make any difference and may as well be suicide mission. I am not a 20 year old any more, if I go there one of the younger members could quite easily kill me. I'm sorry Albus but I am turning down the mission." Remus didn't mention that he was hoping to help Harry get better at duelling since that would only cause more arguments in the group.

"Well I must say that I am disappointed in you Remus. I would have thought that after my support over the years you would do this mission but so be it. I cannot force you on a mission, I just do hope that you spend your free time wisely." Dumbledore said.

"I think that is enough for the night, and we all shall return to our own homes for now. Sirius, I will come back tomorrow to speak with Harry about our lessons. To everyone else, please be careful on your way home."

As everyone got out of there seats, Amy turned to Sirius "Well done you, I am so proud of you for sticking to your guns like that and not letting them get to you while you are stuck in here."

Sirius grinned "See I do listen to you sometimes. That's a rarity for me, listening to what other people tell me to do."

"So I should feel special then?" Amy asked.

"Of course you should, you are special to me."

They were interrupted by a cough behind them, they both turned around to see Hestia standing there. Amy still wanted to punch her in the face, but didn't.

"I just wanted to say Sirius that I like your new haircut and it's good to see you looking so healthy. If you are ever in need of some company, do let me know and I'll pop over in my spare time. You must be getting awfully lonely here some nights."

"Thank you Hestia, you are looking lovely as ever. You may visit anytime you wish, I'm not exactly going anywhere." Sirius replied.

Amy rolled her eyes, of course the single women in the Order would notice Sirius now, funny how they didn't seem to care before today. Bitches.

"Who are bitches?" Sirius asked and Amy soon realised that she had said the last part out loud and that Hestia had gone.

"Oh just these women who all of a sudden want to talk to you just because you cut your hair. Look, a good looking guy with a shitload of money, let's throw myself at him." Amy mocked.

"You wouldn't happen to be jealous of Hestia would you?" Sirius teased.

"Excuse you, I do not get jealous. Certainly not of bitches like her." Amy objected.

"It's ok Amy, you will always be my favourite. I'll always choose you over them any day." Sirius said.

"I'm glad you can see through them, but just be careful Sirius. You must excuse me now though, I have a date tonight that I need to get ready for."

"That's right, you have a date with Ainsley tonight. Listen, I need to say this before you meet up with him."

Sirius paused for a moment but then continued "If he hurts or says anything demeaning about you, I'll personally go to his house and put him in a world of pain. I won't kill him but I'll make sure he knows that he can't treat you like he has been."

"Sirius, he won't hurt me."

"Maybe not physically, but you and I both know that there is more than one way to hurt someone. Just be careful Amy and if he tries to talk you out of this, please just remember that Harry and I both not only need you, but I want you here with me." Sirius pleaded with her.

'Thanks, that is really sweet that you want to protect me like that Sirius. I'm sure things will be fine and if I don't come home tonight please don't come searching for me, I'll probably just be spending the night at Ainsley's. I'm sure he wouldn't be too happy if you come storming into his bedroom, in a fit of rage."

"So you are going to make me stay up all night worrying about you." Sirius pouted.

'No you are going to go to bed like a normal person, because nothing bad will happen. I will be fine, you don't have to worry about a thing. I have to go now, goodbye Sirius." Amy gave Sirius quick kiss on the cheek and left the room.

"Care to explain what that was about?"

Sirius turned around and saw Remus, Carissa and Kingsley just staring at him while Tonks had a smirk on her face. Amy and Sirius hadn't noticed that they had all stayed in the room listening to the conversation. Well, Carissa and Tonks had wanted to stickybeak and Remus and Kingsley got dragged into it with them.

"What?" Sirius asked.

"The whole protective thing Sirius, you never do that unless you really care about someone." Remus replied.

"I don't know what you are taking about, I'm just looking out for Amy." Sirius protested.

"You have a crush on her don't you?" Carissa asked.

"I do not have a crush. Just because you lot are in love, doesn't mean the whole world is. I mean imagine Voldemort in love, Roses are red, violets are blue. I have no nose but I can still love too."

"You are an idiot" Tonks stated.

'No you lot are, now good day. I need to speak with Harry about Dumbledore and all these new lessons." Sirius said before walking out of the room.

"He so has a crush on her" Tonks stated,

"How long before he will admit it?" Carissa asked.

"He won't, not until he knows for certain where he stands with Amy. He will tease and flirt with her mercilessly but won't give away too many real feelings until he knows how Amy feels." Remus said.

"How does Amy, feel about him?" Tonks asked Carissa.

"I think she defiantly is attracted to him and that she genuinely likes Sirius but won't admit it. I think she still loves Ainsley but is going to realise that their relationship isn't working and won't last. It isn't going to happen soon, since I'm sure it is only a crush at this stage but I'd put money on Sirius and Amy ending up together eventually." Carissa explained.

"Ainsley needs to be removed first though, how do we do that?" Tonks asked.

"It's a shame he just doesn't disappear." Carissa commented.

"I kind of feel sorry for Ainsley. Us four sitting here conspiring against him." Kingsley said.

"You mean, three of you. I want no part in this." Remus added

"No you are to late Remus, you are already involved. If you don't help, I'll tell my mother that you refused to help her favourite cousin and she will not be happy with you. Plus from what I've told her about what is going on in the Order, she has already been trying match make me with someone, it won't take much for me to convince her that Sirius needs someone to fall in love with. If she finds out that you wouldn't help, there will be hell to pay." Tonks stated.

"Ainsley doesn't stand a chance does he? Especially if Andromeda doesn't like him and she thinks Amy is better off with Sirius." Remus asked.

Tonks smirked "Of course not, the fall of Ainsley Gibbon is just beginning and you are one of the lucky few who get to initiate it."

**A/N – Next chapter is one I think we have all been looking forward to. Ainsley finally gets put back in his place. What do you think of Amy and Hestia fighting? What about Sirius becoming more protective of Amy and Amy's jealousy of other women noticing Sirius? Any thoughts on the others scheming to push Amy and Sirius together?**

**To all my readers, have a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year and stay safe over the holidays. xxx**


	12. Big Girls Cry

A/**N – All characters belong to J.K Rowling, I own nothing. Don't forget if you like the story add it as a favourite or leave a review. **

**Previously - "Ainsley doesn't stand a chance does he? Especially if Andromeda doesn't like him and she thinks Amy is better off with Sirius." Remus asked.**

**Tonks smirked "Of course not, the fall of Ainsley Gibbon is just beginning and you are one of the lucky few who get to initiate it."**

Chapter 12- Big Girls Cry

After the order meeting Amy got ready quickly and drove over to meet Ainsley at his house. From there he was taking her out to some fancy Italian restaurant in the middle of London.

When Amy pulled her car into his driveway, she felt very nervous all of a sudden. A lot had happened since she had last seen Ainsley and she had to be careful what she said. The last thing she wanted to do was accidently give away that she knew anything about Sirius or the Order.

Amy got out of her car and knocked on Ainsley's door. She had to wait a few seconds before it finally opened.

"Hello Amy, come inside quickly please. I am nearly ready to go." Ainsley said, giving Amy a quick kiss on the lips before walking back down the entryway of the house and into his lounge room.

Amy followed him but her nerves were getting worse and she was starting to feel sick. Amy decided to distract herself by counting how many tiles were on Ainsley's floor. She was up to twenty when she started randomly thinking about Sirius and if he was okay. _Probably he is just doing something with Remus. What if he has a nightmare and I'm not there? He is capable of looking after himself, he managed by himself before you came along. Maybe I shouldn't stay here all night though, maybe I should go home after dinner just to make sure he is okay. Am_y mentally slapped herself_, thinking about another man while in my boyfriends house. Poor form Amy, that isn't cool. _She continued to argue with herself in her head though._ It isn't like I've been thinking about how nice his eyes look with that grey colour or how good I feel when he compliments me or how gorgeous his butt looked in those jeans he had on today. Great now I've got a picture of his butt in my head, while I'm in my boyfriends house. I'm so going to hell if I keep on doing this._

"Earth to Amy."

Amy blinked her eyes and saw Ainsley standing in front of her. "Sorry, I got distracted. I've had a lot on my plate lately." she apologized.

"You think that you have a lot on your plate. At least you don't have to worry about squids attacking you at work." Ainsley complained.

"What are you on about?" Amy questioned, having no idea what he was talking about.

"Someone at work has found out that I'm afraid of squids. Everywhere I go there is something that has been transfigured into a fake squid, as soon as I go to pick them up they explode leaving some sort of green liquid over me. Someone even sent me a live one in a tank, yesterday. I had to call a Muggle Pet Shop to see where I could send it back." Amy was trying hard not to laugh. Carissa would of let it out about Ainsley being afraid of squids but a live one in a tank and exploding fake ones had Sirius written all over it. Amy also figured that he must of roped Tonks and Kingsley into doing the dirty work.

"That must of been horrible for you. Hopefully you figure will out who is doing it soon." Amy said keeping herself composed.

"So do I. Are you ready to go?" Ainsley asked.

'Ummm, no there is something I need to tell you first." Amy said quietly, looking down at her shoes. She had to get this out before she got even more nervous and threw up everywhere.

"What is it?" Ainsley asked.

"I had a visit from Albus Dumbledore a few days ago." Amy answered, still not looking at her boyfriend.

"What did he want with you?" Ainsley queried.

"He offered both Carissa and I a job teaching Muggle Studies at Hogwarts this year and we accepted the position." Amy blurted out as she finally looked up at Ainsley.

"Are you fucking kidding me Amy? Dumbledore is an old crackpot and that boy Potter is worse. They both want to bring down the Minister for Magic with their bullshit stories." Ainsley yelled at her.

Amy was trying very hard to control her temper, why were people so insistent on setting her off today.

"Look Ainsley, I don't really care if Dumbledore believes that sky is pink and it rains butterflies. I'm getting paid more money for less work and can actually teach the kids what it really is like for a Muggle in the Wizarding world." Amy said as calmly as she could.

"How do you think this will look for me Amy? If you work for him, the Ministry will think I'm on Dumbledore's side." Ainsley argued back.

"So what Ainsley? They aren't going to sack you, you are too good at your job. Plus are you sure they are telling the truth? It wouldn't be the first time that they have lied." Amy was yelling now.

"Amy, that was ages ago that they tried to cover up your Dad's death. Don't you think you should be over it?" Ainsley continued.

"Over it? I can never forgive them for it! My Dad meant nothing to them because he was another Muggle. It didn't matter if his killer got justice or not, for all I know they never even went to prison. I can never forgive them for not allowing me to get some sort of justice for him." Amy screamed.

"Look Amy, it was probably Sirius Black. They could never pin any other murders on him but I would be inclined to think he committed a lot more than what he was locked up for."

Amy was exasperated by now. She wanted to scream at Ainsley that Sirius was innocent and that was another major fuck up by the Ministry but stopped herself just in time.

"Look we are getting off subject here. I told Dumbledore that I would do it and I am not going back on my word now." Amy was yelling at Ainsley still but was thinking of Sirius. She had come so far with him all ready, she certainly wasn't going to give up on him now even if she had to have Ainsley mad at her again.

"Listen to yourself Amy, now I can't even trust you to make decisions for yourself anymore." Ainsley harshly said.

"Excuse me, I am quite capable of thinking for myself. We aren't married or even living together so you have no right to say I can't do a job especially when the job would give us more time to spend together." Amy retorted.

"Fine then, come to the Ministry now and I'll marry you. If that stops you from taking this stupid job." Ainsley offered.

"No, I'm not going to marry you just because you don't want me to do a job. You aren't supposed to control me, you are meant to love and respect me. You need to trust me in my ability to make these decisions. I want you to marry me because you love me, not because you haven't got your way!" Amy screeched

"But you can't be trusted. Look what happened at Chris's wedding." Ainsley screamed back.

"I got drunk once and danced with my favourite cousin. It wasn't like I did a nudie run or cheated on you with anyone. We just had some fun, something you wouldn't know about." Amy replied.

"You embarrassed me, you always end up embarrassing me! You might think it's fun to ramble on about robots or sharks or whatever random thing has your attention that week but to me you are a fucking embarrassment." Ainsley yelled.

Amy was hurt, it was like Ainsley took a knife and stabbed it straight through her heart.

"Well I'm glad I know how you really feel. If I am such an embarrassment to you, maybe we are better off alone. You don't agree with anything I do anymore and to be honest I haven't been happy around you for a long time. I am taking this job, whether you like it or not. You can't stop me." She managed to get out before the tears started rolling down her face.

"Just go then Amy, get out." Ainsley screamed.

Amy ran out of the house, hearing something smash behind her. By the time she reached her car, the tears were pouring down her face. Her heart had just been shattered into a million pieces and she wasn't sure what to do. If she went back inside and apologised, Ainsley would somehow guilt her into not sticking by her decision. If she went back to her house, she would be alone and be tempted to text or call Ainsley and once again end up back at square one. So that left Sirius's place, not that she really felt like seeing him since he did kind of cause this mess in the first place. Carissa would be there though and she would make sure Amy didn't go running back to Ainsley.

With her decision made Amy drove back to Grimmauld Place. When she knocked on the door Remus answered "Amy, what are you doing here? I thought you'd be out all night." He asked surprised to see her.

"Didn't quite go to plan." Amy said walking in, tears still falling down her face. "Where's Carissa?"

"She went out with Kingsley, told us she wouldn't be back till the morning. She had said you probably wouldn't be back either. Are you ok?" Remus questioned, he could tell she was really upset but had no idea what had happened.

"Yeah, I'm just going go up to my room and wallow in self-pity." Amy answered heading up to her room.

Remus took a deep breath, now he had to explain this to Sirius and who knew how he would react. How do you explain to a man renowned for having a furious temper that the women he liked had arrived back home in tears? He quickly walked back to the drawing room where he and Sirius had been playing a game of wizard chess before Amy had arrived.

"Who was it?" Sirius asked.

"Amy came back" Remus said carefully.

"Why is she back already? Did Ainsley cancel on her or something?" Sirius quizzed Remus.

"I'm not sure, but she looked pretty upset." Remus answered.

"Did that bastard hurt her? If he so much as hurt one hair on her body, I'm going to Crucio him myself, cut him up in pieces and feed him to Buckbeak." Sirius yelled jumping out of his chair in anger.

"Calm down, maybe you should and talk to her first and find out what happened. You don't want kill him before you know exactly what he has done." Remus suggested knowing that Sirius would probably follow through with the threat, if he didn't calm himself down soon.

Sirius ran out of the room without another word. Five seconds later he popped back in "Where exactly is Amy, Remus?'

Remus chuckled "Her bedroom."

"Thanks." Sirius ran as fast as he could up the stairs passing Molly, who chastised him for running on the stairs but he took no notice.

Sirius got to Amy's door and he burst inside. He saw her lying on the bed sobbing quietly.

"What did he do?" Sirius asked coldly.

Amy sat up and looked at him "Please not now Sirius. Just go away, I can't deal with you right now."

"Not until you tell me what happened. Did he hurt you? If he did, I'll go there right now and kill the bastard!" Sirius snarled.

Amy really wasn't up to arguing so she answered him "He didn't hurt me, not physically. We broke up, that's all."

Sirius walked over to Amy and sat on her bed. He put his arm around her trying to comfort her "I'm so sorry Amy, is there anything I can do to help? Maybe feed him to the Dementors."

Amy gave a small smile " No, nothing like that but can you answer a question for me?" she asked.

Sirius nodded "Anything for you."

"I know you haven't known me for long but I can't ask Carissa since she is out."

"What is it Amy?" Sirius said trying to keep his temper, he had a feeling he was going to have to show a lot of restraint from hexing Ainsley.

"Do I embarrass you?" Amy asked.

"What do you mean?" Sirius was confused by the question.

"When I talk about killer robots or zombies or when I say whatever random thing that pops in my head. Do you find that embarrassing? Ainsley said that I was an embarrassment to him."

Sirius grabbed Amy's head and made her look into his eyes "Amy, you are not an embarrassment. I find you smart, entertaining and so much fun. Plus you have such a good heart that you will help anyone, including me. Ainsley is an idiot for treating you like that and you don't know how hard it is for me to not go around there and rip his heart out for calling you an embarrassment. He is the embarrassment, not you. That is not how a gentleman treats a lady."

Sirius let go of her head but put his arm around her shoulders again.

"Thank you Sirius but please don't hurt him. I don't want to see you lose everything again because of someone like him." Amy rested her head on his chest. "It's just so hard because I know I've done the right thing but I feel miserable. I just want to get completely drunk tonight and kill some brain cells so I don't have to think anymore."

"Don't you always tell me, drinking isn't the solution?" Sirius commented.

"I'm not saying I'll become an alcoholic but one night of having a few drinks isn't going to hurt me. I just want to get drunk and wallow in self-pity for the night." Amy sighed as she moved her head back off Sirius.

"That's fine but on one condition though. I am staying here with you while you drink, otherwise you might try to apparate to Ainsley's house again to declare your undying love and end up splinching yourself. Broken hearts and alcohol never go well together."

"That reminds me, I'm going to switch off my phone to, so I don't end up drunk dialling him either. If I talk to him too soon, I'll end up falling back into the same trap again. I'm probably best off having no contact with him for a while." Amy said.

"I don't suppose you have any liquor stashed here do you?" Sirius asked.

"Kind of forgot that, I was too focussed on coming here and hiding." Amy replied.

"Never mind, I'll go and get a bottle of Firewhiskey for you." Sirius said getting off her bed and walking out of the room.

When Sirius arrived back, Amy was watching a DVD on her laptop.

"What are we watching?" he asked.

"I'm watching Bridget Jones's Diary. You really don't have to watch it, it's a romantic comedy and I doubt you will enjoy it. I'll be ok on my own." answered Amy "It just hurts since I was sure Ainsley and I would be together forever and now I've fucked everything up. I just want to forget about this whole entire day."

"You haven't fucked anything up Amy, he has. You shouldn't have to lose yourself completely just to be with someone else. It may take weeks or even months but you will get over Ainsley and eventually find someone who is really meant for you." Sirius told Amy as he lay down next to her.

Amy was just about to comment on how sweet Sirius was being but he interrupted her "Plus I still say he is a probably a dud in the bedroom department. You can't be with someone who is hopeless in the sack. The offers still open by the way, if you want to to see what a real man can do." Sirius said while he laughed at the reaction on Amy's face.

Amy groaned "Why must you say something really nice and then turn it into something rude."

"It's what I've always done. My defence system has always been to joke about everything so that way even if I get hurt by someone, they will never know how bad it really affected me." Sirius said shrugging his shoulders.

"You know I'd never do anything to hurt you right, Muttley. I do care about you." Amy said softly.

"I know you do. Anyway enough with all this soppy stuff. Less talking, more drinking and we will worry about life tomorrow." Sirius declared as he poured both of them a drink and they settled in to watch the movie.

**A/N- Chapter title is based on the song Big Girls Cry by Sia. I don't own Bridget Jones either Helen Fielding does.**

**I think Sirius and Amy both like each other a little more than either would care to admit. Also while Ainsley and Amy won't date again, he won't be pushed aside that easily. Ainsley will try and win Amy back eventually but he will have to get through an angry Sirius first. In case you are thinking it, there will be no drunk kissing. We still have to wait a little longer for Sirius and Amy to get together.**

**Don't forget to leave a review or add as a favourite if you like the story. xxx**


	13. Letter from the Past

**A/N – All characters belong to JK Rowling**

**Previously- "You know I'd never do anything to hurt you right, Muttley. I do care about you." Amy said softly.**

**"I know you do. Anyway enough with all this soppy stuff. Less talking, more drinking and we will worry about life tomorrow." Sirius declared as he poured both of them a drink and they settled in to watch the movie.**

**Chapter 13 – Letter from the Past**

A pounding headache greeted Amy the next morning. "Ouch" she moaned as she rolled over in the bed only to bump into something.

"Sirius? What the fuck are you doing in here?" Amy yelped.

"Well I was trying to sleep until you decided to wake me up" he groaned turning around to face her.

"I mean, why you are in my bed." Amy hissed as her head kept thumping.

'Well, someone decided to drink nearly a bottle of Firewhiskey last night and I certainly wasn't going to leave that person alone. So I stayed in that person's bed after they fell asleep, just in case they needed help after their night of trying to block out certain memories." Sirius replied.

"Did I really drink that much? No wonder I feel horrible." Amy sighed.

"Yes you did, the bottle was empty and I only had one glass." Sirius answered.

"I didn't do anything stupid last night did I?" Amy questioned.

"The worst thing was when you proclaimed that your Mark Darcy must be riding a turtle and not a horse because he is taking long enough to find you." Sirius said laughing.

"That's not so bad and I remember tuning off my phone so I wouldn't drunk dial Ainsley. I'm guessing I didn't say anything stupid to him?" Amy asked.

"You watched Bridget Jones and fell asleep, nothing bad at all happened. Although Ainsley might be a bit angry if he has tried calling you and there has been no reply. If I were him, I'd be doing everything I could to get you back and would be worried that you hadn't replied."

"I know I should at least message him but I'm afraid to. Why are relationships so complicated? It's like I know Ainsley isn't good for me but I always fall back into the same trap, forgive him and run straight back into his arms. I feel weird, it's like I'm upset that I've hurt him but not that we are broken up. It's really confusing, I would have thought that I would be more upset than this." Amy said.

"Well I'm not the best person to be asking for relationship advice, I suggest you talk to Molly about that. Arthur and Molly have been together since they were in school and she could probably help you a lot more. I do know this though, some people are worth fighting for Amy, you just have to decide if Ainsley is worth it and would he do the same for you?" Sirius suggested.

"Thanks Sirius, that sounds like a great idea. I might have a chat with Molly later." Amy said.

"No problems love, now did you want me to get anything for you?" Sirius asked.

"No thanks, I'm going to text Carissa and see if she can bring me my hangover cure from McDonalds, a nice juicy cheeseburger should do the trick."

"I'll be back a bit later to check on you then. I'll leave you to get some more sleep for now." Sirius said as he got out of the bed and walked out of the room

"I doubt I'll get anymore sleep now." Amy muttered. She decided to have a shower and hoped that it would make her feel better.

Once Amy finished she felt a little better but still sent Carissa a text to bring her some food. Amy also saw she had multiple missed calls and text messages from Ainsley. She thought it was best not to call him but sent a message letting him know that she was fine but unable to talk to him.

Amy was searching through a drawer for a pair of socks to put on when she heard something rattle. She closed the drawer and opened it a second time. She heard the strange rattle again. Curious she pulled everything out and had a closer look. Amy couldn't see anything but could still hear the rattle so she felt around the edges of the drawer. Along the side edge she felt a tiny little gap that she could fit her finger in. Amy got her finger in the gap and pulled upwards. The bottom of the drawer lifted up to reveal a false compartment. In that compartment were two items, a gold ring with Toujours Pur inscribed on it and a golden locket which had a green snake on it in the shape of an S on the front.

Amy wasn't sure why Regulus would have had these items hidden, it didn't make any sense. Surely they were just old pieces of jewellery, maybe the ring was Black family's Head of House ring but what was so special about a locket.

Amy decided her best bet was to talk with Sirius about them. She quickly put everything back in its place and took the necklace and ring with her to go and find him.

Amy left her room and barely got a few steps out when she heard someone yelling.

"Filthy Mudblood, how dare you touch Master's things!" Amy looked up to she Kreacher running towards her.

Amy wasn't sure what he was doing and couldn't think clearly.

"Give that to me, filth." Kreacher demanded.

"Excuse you, I will not give anything to you until I have shown Sirius." Amy snapped back at the elf.

"How dare you, the blood traitor has no right to anything. Give it to me now!" Kreacher leaped at Amy trying to pry the items out of her hands.

"Get off me Kreacher." Amy yelled trying to push the elf off her but he continued trying to wrestle the locket and ring from her.

" Kreacher get off Amy now, I order you!" they heard a furious Sirius yell from behind them but Kreacher continued trying to get the items until Amy saw him slump down in front of her.

"What did you do?" Amy asked turning to look at Sirius.

"Used a stunning spell on him, don't worry he will be fine. What about you are you okay?" Sirius asked as he grabbed Amy gently and started looking her over to make sure she was okay.

"I'm fine, I came out here to give you these and he just started yelling at me. I think he didn't want you to have them." Amy said handing over the ring and necklace.

Sirius looked over both objects carefully "The ring looks like the Black family ring which is given to whoever is head of the family. My father was head of the family before he died and I assumed he passed the ring down to Regulus since I wasn't a suitable heir. The locket, I have no idea who that belongs to but Kreacher always did love Regulus, he would probably attack you over taking a pair of his socks. Where did you find them anyway?"

"Hidden in a secret compartment in his desk." Amy answered.

"Why would Regulus keep a piece of junk with the family ring?" Sirius queried.

"Maybe it held some importance to him?" Amy guessed.

"Maybe, it doesn't look like anything special to me though. Just put it back in the compartment with the ring, they are both useless too me now. As I said before Kreacher would probably attack you over a pair of socks." Sirius told Amy.

"You don't want to try the ring on? If Regulus died maybe you automatically get reinstated as head of the family?" Amy asked.

"Not going to do me much good, when I can't even enter the Wizengamot without getting my soul taken from me but I suppose if I wear it, there is less chance of Mundungus trying to steal it, if something happens to me. I like the man but I'm not a fool, he would pilfer everything in this house once he got the chance."

Sirius slipped the ring on his right hand ring finger and a puff of smoke came out from it. The smoke formed into two greyhounds that raced around Sirius three times and then disappeared back into the ring.

"Well I guess that means I'm now Head of the Black Family, not exactly an honour but it could play into my favour if I ever get a trial." Sirius commented

"We will get you one soon, just keep holding on a bit longer. We have a more pressing problem at the moment, like an unconscious elf." Amy said pointing at Kreachers body.

"Well I feel like killing the bastard for daring to lay a finger on you but I'm guessing you won't agree with that." Sirius said.

"No, I don't want him dead but we also can't keep you two in the same house together, one of you will end up dead with the way things are going otherwise." Amy stated.

"He can't apparate out of here at the moment because I have forbidden him too leave, so we are fine for now. What I need is someone or something that can help figure out a way around things, explain how elf magic works and how to keep us all safe so that Kreacher can't betray us." Sirius pondered.

"I think I have an idea. We can send Kreacher to Dumbledore and he can keep him in the kitchens at Hogwarts. If we word Kreachers orders carefully he won't be able to leak out any of the secrets he knows. It won't stop other elves just popping in and spying though but I think if we can get that elf Dobby that has tried to help Harry before, maybe he would help us. He should be able to fix the wards so that no other elf can sneak in or out of here." Amy suggested.

"Do you think it will work? Do you think Dobby will help us?" Sirius looked sceptical.

"Only one way to find out. Can you ask Harry to summon Dobby, while I think of what exactly you need to say to Kreacher?" Amy asked.

Sirius took off instantly to go and find Harry while Amy went to find a piece of paper and a pen. Amy felt a little sorry for Kreacher but she also knew he would sell them out to Death Eaters if he got even the slightest chance. It was probably crueller to send him away from this house then to kill him but she would not let Sirius have anyone's blood on his hands, not if she could help it.

Ten minutes later Amy was finished writing and Sirius had returned with the house elf Dobby beside him.

"Hello Dobby, it is nice to meet you. Harry has told me lots of good things about you. My name is Amy." Amy introduced herself trying not to laugh at the teacosy on the elf's head.

"Harry Potter has spoken about me to you. Dobby is honoured to help Harry Potter in anyway. I will make sure the nasty elf doesn't harm Harry Potter. Harry Potter is Dobby's friend. Harry Potter says so."

"Thank you Dobby. I have written what Sirius needs to say but after that would you be able to close the wards off so elves cannot apparate in here any longer and will you make sure Kreacher tells Dumbledore exactly what we ask him to? We want to make Harry as safe as possible." Amy asked the elf.

"Dobby will make sure nasty elf follows Master Paddy's orders."

Sirius and Amy were trying to hold in their laughter at this strange elf.

"Thank you Dobby, now Sirius can you awaken Kreacher and say this please." Amy said handing Sirius her note.

Sirius woke Kreacher up and was prepared for a fight from the elf.

"What did you do to me blood traitor, mistress should never of had you. She should have had an abortion, Master Regulus was her only true son." Kreacher spat out.

"Shut up Kreacher and listen carefully." Sirius yelled.

Kreacher stopped instantly having realised that he had finally gone too far.

"From now on you are no longer welcome in this house. You are of no use to me here so these are your new orders. You are to go to Dumbledore at Hogwarts and inform him that I have sent you to work for him. I can no longer trust you not to harm anyone living here and I will not have Harry hurt because of you and your behaviour. You are not to use any form of communication to tell any person or creature about this house or the Order. You will still serve as a Black family elf and may regain a position of honour back here, if you can prove your loyalty to either me or Harry. I will be sending Dobby with you to make sure you do exactly what I have ordered you to do and he will be taking up your position here. Go to Dumbledore now before I end up changing my mind about you punishment."

Kreacher stated begging Sirius to let him stay but Sirius didn't want to hear it.

"Go to Dumbledore, now!" Sirius yelled.

There was a popping sound and then the elf disappeared.

"Dobby will please make sure Kreacher does as I have asked? When you return can you please cast the ward that allows no elves except you to apparate in here?"

"Yes Master Paddy, anything to protect the great Harry Potter." and then he as gone with a pop.

"That was one strange elf" Amy remarked.

"He is but his loyalty to Harry is unbelievable. From what I've heard he is probably more loyal to Harry then some wizards here. He is the only elf that has ever wanted paying but I don't mind if it keeps Harry and you both safe. I don't even care if he doesn't even do any work and just watches over Harry for me. It will be the best investment that I have ever made"

"I don't think Kreacher would have hurt me by the way, I think he was just upset because I found something Regulus had." Amy commented.

"Amy, it may some cruel but I'm doing what I can to protect those I care for, even if that means sending Kreacher away from here. Yes he would be feeling shameful now knowing that he has disgraced his family but If I have to act like a bastard towards him to save Harry or you, I will." Sirius declared.

Amy nodded her head in agreement but another question popped into her head.

"Why do you think Regulus kept the locket? It doesn't make sense for him to keep it hidden like that, if it is worthless. Do you think any answers might be written in that letter of your fathers, that you told me about?. I didn't even think to ask Kreacher about it."

"Kreacher is half mad Amy, I don't think it would be wise to trust what he says especially after what I just said to him. I really don't think it is anything important for us to worry about. As for the letter, I probably should read it to find out exactly what my father wanted anyway." Sirius answered.

"Do you want to read it now? I can stay with you while you go through it, if you want me too," Amy asked.

"That would be mice. I may need your support with it, who knows what my father wrote in it." Sirius replied.

" I have one condition on me doing this though. As soon as Carissa is here with food, I'm leaving you to go and get my cheeseburger." Amy joked.

"I think I can agree to that." Sirius said laughing.

Amy followed Sirius back to his room and while he searched through his desk, made herself comfortable on his bed. Sirius found the letter and opened it up. He sat down next to Amy and began reading.

_Dear Sirius,_

_This is a letter that I never thought I would write. I am asking for your forgiveness and to say I'm sorry that I pushed you away from our family._

_As you know the Black family has always had trouble with showing any real emotion to anyone, even those that we love. I regret that my inability to show that I cared about you, made you decide that living with another family was better than living with your own father._

_While I will always think that we are still better then Muggles, an issue like this should not tear a family apart. I am sorry for telling you that I wish you were never born and that you never felt that I loved you._

_I know you will never set foot back in our house after what your mother did to you but you must know that I had no idea how far she was going with the punishments. Reggie told me that they were bad but I just thought he was exaggerating. It wasn't until I saw them myself that I realised what your mother had done to you. When she used to not feed you, she told me that you were refusing to eat our food because of our beliefs. She made me believe that you had no respect for me at all and I in turn treated you unfairly._

_I failed to see it before but now I can see that you mother did all she could to make me hate you because she hated you herself. It upsets me to say this but I honestly don't believe your mother loved you at all after you started questioning why we hated Muggles at the age of ten._

_This is not your fault Sirius, the women was half mad when I married her and she just got worse over the years. Ours has been a loveless marriage for years now and we have only stayed together because Wizarding marriages cannot be broken. Had I known exactly what she was doing, I would of done everything I could to get you and Reggie away from her._

_If you are reading this and it's not too late, please try and watch out for Reggie. I am starting to hear increasingly alarming things about the lengths this group calling themselves Death Eaters will go to and I'm not sure if I want him involved in it now. I don't even want you involved in it and my greatest fear is that both of you will end up dead, maybe even at their hands of each other._

_While your mother may have said she would disown you, I have kept you as Head of the family. The house ring won't work for Reggie unless you and I are both dead. He doesn't have the ability to navigate the political field without bowing to everyone elses demands. With you I can trust you to make a decision and not be swayed by other people's agendas. You know that I was very good at playing the Wizengamot to get my way, Reggie can't play those games but you can. Remember this though keep your temper and don't let your anger about what is going outside the Wizengamot affect your judgement. Every single member of the Wizengamot has a secret that they don't want public knowledge. I know you don't want to but sometimes you have to fight dirty Sirius. Don't think for one second that your enemies won't try and discredit you or that they will play fair. Fight fairly when you can but fight dirty when you have too._

_I know you want nothing to do with being a Black but please don't let such an ancient family die out because of a bitter feud. I have been in contact with your Cousin Andromeda and she has kept me informed of your well being at the Potter residence and I am happy that you finally truly happy._

_Please forgive me for my mistakes and remember that I have always loved you my son._

_Orion Black._

Sirius looked at Amy in shock "He cared, he actually cared about me?"

"It appears that way." Amy answered.

" Why didn't he tell me before? I thought he hated me." Sirius asked.

"Like he said, I think your mum manipulated the situation to make it seem that you were worse then what you really were and he fell for it." Amy replied.

"He said that mother really did hate me. I don't understand that though, mothers are meant to be the ones with the unbreakable bond with their children, I would of thought she should of cared for me more than she did." Sirius queried.

"Humans are funny creatures Sirius. Yes,technically mothers should be closer with their off spring, fathers still have a bond though. There are some family's out there where the mothers don't care at all about their children and the fathers have raised them on their own. The thing you need to remember is even though your mother may of hated you, it wasn't your fault. Now you know that you still had one parent that always loved you, even if he didn't show you affection when you most needed it."

"It's just a weird feeling reading it, knowing that he still cared after everything that went on." Sirius said.

"I told you that you wouldn't regret reading it." Amy said smiling.

"Smart and pretty, you got any other hidden talents." Sirius joked.

" Smart I will accept, not sure about the pretty part." Amy replied.

"Why don't you think so?" Sirius said looking concerned.

"Oh don't get me wrong, I know I'm not ugly but I also know there are a lot more attractive girls out there. I'm happy to be just in the average category, this is how I look and I'm happy with that. As long as I'm happy with my body, It doesn't really bother me what anyone else says. If they think I'm attractive, that's great, if not they can find someone else who they are attracted to." Amy said.

"I know this doesn't doesn't really matter to you but I do think you're pretty and that Ainsley is an idiot for losing you. He should have done whatever he could to keep you by his side. He will never find another women as good as you." Sirius said so quietly that it was almost a whisper.

Amy's heart was beating faster as Sirius leaned in closer to her and pushed a lock of hair out of her eyes. She was sure he was about to kiss her when her phone started ringing.

Amy pulled back from Sirius quickly " Umm that's probably Carissa, I better go and get my food. I'll see you downstairs later." she said as she jumped off the bed and ran out of the room.

"Fuck" Sirius cursed. "I just tried to kiss her, after everything else that has just happened. What the fuck is wrong with me? I really do have a death wish."

Sirius knew he couldn't go downstairs right away, it would be too awkward. He needed to do something to distract himself for a bit. He thought for a while and then decided that maybe after all this time, he should have a chat with Orion Black's portrait which was located in Harry and Ron's room. Sirius took a deep breath, this was going to be hard for him. Even though it wouldn't be his actual father, it was close enough. Twenty years he had been running away from his family, now he was doing the opposite. Sirius prayed that this worked in his favour, surely something in his life had to go right for once.

**A/N – Next chapter we have Sirius and Orion having a little chat and Hestia comes to visit just to give Amy an even bigger headache. Carissa and Kingsley have a plan and Dobby arrives back. **

**To all my readers, if you have any questions about where the story is going or any comments on any of the characters let me know. The next chapter may take a while to update, but I will try to get an update as soon as I can.**


	14. Family Reunion

**A/N – All characters belong to JK Rowling. Sorry it has taken me so long to update, haven't had a lot of time to continue writing lately.**

**Previously- Sirius knew he couldn't go downstairs right away, it would be too awkward. He needed to do something to distract himself for a bit. He thought for a while and then decided that maybe after all this time, he should have a chat with Orion Black's portrait which was located in Harry and Ron's room. Sirius took a deep breath, this was going to be hard for him. Even though it wouldn't be his actual father, it was close enough. Twenty years he had been running away from his family, now he was doing the opposite. Sirius prayed that this worked in his favour, surely something in his life had to go right for once.**

Chapter 14 – Family Reunion

Sirius took a deep breath, it had been so long since he had spoken with his father and he still wasn't sure if this was the right thing to do. His hand shook as he opened the door to Harry and Ron's room, he knew they would both be downstairs for a while, so he should have enough time to speak with his father without them interrupting.

Sirius walked into the room slowly and looked around. Orion was currently sleeping or pretending to sleep, Sirius wasn't quite sure and his great great grandfather Phineas Nigellus who had his portrait located next to Orion's had disappeared to his other one at Hogwarts.

"Dad, wake up." Sirius said loudly.

"What?" Orion muttered as he woke up "What are you doing here?" he asked looking at Sirius suspiciously.

"I've come to see you." Sirius answered.

"Why?" Orion asked bluntly.

"Because I finally read your letter to me and needed to know if you meant what you said. Plus, I have finally accepted my role as head of the Black family." Sirius said, holding up his hand to show Orion the family ring.

Orion looked startled by what Sirius had just said but recovered quickly "I meant every word. I always loved you Sirius even if it didn't seem like it. Your mother on the other hand, I'm afraid to say hated you. You stood up to her and didn't follow our beliefs and she couldn't handle that. While I still didn't agree with everything you did or said, It wasn't until it was too late that I found out how much she had manipulated me and turned me against you. I just wish you had read the letter sooner."

"You still choose her and Kreacher over me every time." Sirius snorted.

"I'm truly sorry for that Sirius. I was a lousy father to you and got so caught up in my own beliefs and your mother's lies, that I pushed you away. Perhaps had I supported you more, you may not have ended up in Azkaban or had your life completely messed around. I've heard everything about what happened to you and I'm very surprised that you trust anyone else here. If it was me I would of told Dumbledore to have his meetings elsewhere that way if you did have another traitor, you could still seek refuge here and not have your neck on the chopping block." said Orion.

"To be quite honest I'm still wary of a few of the Order members, but since Amy and Carissa have arrived I think maybe I am learning to slowly build that trust up again. Except for Snape, I'll never get on with that slimy bastard. At the time I thought it was the only useful thing I could do for the Order but now Amy has given me ideas on some ways that I can help out even more, which has made me feel not so useless."

"How can you do more? Your circumstances are still the same and you still can't go anywhere." Orion questioned.

"Amy and I are going to do some research to try and find out how to defeat Voldemort for good. I'm going to look through our library books here and Amy is going to look through records at Hogwarts for anyone named Tom Riddle. Plus I can help Remus train Harry in defence to get him better prepared for any Death Eaters that come after him this year." Sirius replied.

"Who is Tom Riddle? Why are you looking up his details?" asked Orion.

"That is Voldemort's real name. That is the only information we have on him at the moment." Sirius explained.

"I went to Hogwarts with a Tom Riddle, he was three years above me. Didn't know him that well though and never would have guessed that he was Voldemort. If that is the right one, I suppose there could be other wizards with the same name. How did you find out his real name anyway?"

"Harry and Ginny Weasley have both had connections with him at some stage and he told them both his real name. Now we have a year range that he attended Hogwarts it should make it easier for Amy to find more information on him. Amy thinks that there should be records of each graduating year somewhere in the library and from that point we can track down who he knew and who might have told him how to become immortal."

"Who is this Amy that is helping you? Can you trust her?" Orion questioned.

"Amy is great, she has helped me so much since she joined the Order. She is the only one who I can talk to about Azkaban and has tried to stop the trail of self-destruction that I was heading down. She makes me feel like I can trust her, something I never thought I'd feel again after Pettigrew's betrayal and she makes me feel like one day I might be able to put my past behind me." Sirius answered.

Sirius had just finished speaking when they heard a pop into the room.

"Dobby, you're back already? How did it go?" Sirius questioned the elf.

"Nasty elf told Dumbledore everything. Dumbledore was upset that nasty elf couldn't remain here and that you couldn't resolve your differences. But I told him that Dobby takes care of Harry Potter and Master Paddy now and nothing will harm Harry Potter, so nasty elf must stay at Hogwarts." Dobby answered as he bounced around from side to side on his feet.

"Thank you Dobby, you can go and find something else to do now if you like. Maybe see if Harry needs any help." Sirius said dismissing the elf.

Once Dobby left Orion commented "Who was that elf and why was he wearing a tea cosy? And what happened to Kreacher?"

"That was Dobby. I've employed him to watch over Harry for me and he is also looking after this house for me. I sent Kreacher to Hogwarts, that elf was going to get me killed one day if I kept him here." Sirius answered.

"You certainly are doing things differently aren't you but then again my way wasn't always the greatest. The Black family name has almost died out because most of us were too stubborn to change our ways. While it is nice to move on from the past Sirius, it is always important to remember the lessons we learn from it. Don't let your stubbornness and our family temper ruin your chance of getting your freedom again. I also want to speak with this Amy women, while she may seem nice to you even I know that your judgement isn't always the best." Orion advised.

They heard a pop again "Master Paddy, you need to come into the kitchen. Harry asked me to come and get you immediately."

"I'm sorry Dad, but I need to go and see what Harry needs. We'll talk again later and thanks for the advice."

Sirius ran out of the room with Dobby following him into the kitchen. He saw Amy, Carissa, Kingsley, Remus, Harry, Ron and to his surprise Hestia sitting around the table which was covered in McDonalds bags. Sirius figured that Carissa must of decided to buy more so everyone could have a treat but the other thing that caught his attention was Hestia and Amy arguing again. This must of been why Harry called him down but he just stood and silently watched the argument from the doorway.

"I know you both are hiding something and I'm going to find out what it is. You may have Sirius wrapped around your finger but I'll find out soon enough about your dirty secrets and have you sent to Azkaban. A nice long stay in there should do you good." Hestia said to Amy.

Amy jumped up out of her chair "For the millionth time, I'm the good guy. What the fuck have I ever done to you to make you hate me? The only thing I've done to get me sent there was aid Sirius and not inform the Ministry, which you are just as guilty of."

"Isn't it a little odd that Sirius didn't open up to anyone much before and then as soon as you come along he starts following you around like a lost puppy? No one can even talk to him because you're always hanging off him."

Sirius decided to step in after that comment "Well I can transform into a dog, so I suppose it makes sense that I follow people around."

"Sirius, I've been wondering where you were. Amy here wouldn't tell me where you were, I was worried about you." Hestia said smiling sweetly at Sirius.

"I did bloody tell you. It's not my fault that you couldn't understand me." Amy snapped back at her.

"You said, maybe he found Narnia in his closet and choose to stay there. I had no idea what that meant and for all I know it could be somewhere dangerous." Hestia yelled back at Amy.

"Amy, did you go using muggle jokes on poor unsuspecting wizards again?" Sirius joked.

"Not my fault they don't take the time to look into muggle literature." Amy replied.

Sirius laughed "Hestia, no I did not find Narnia in my closet, nor was I looking for it. I was however speaking to my father's portrait in Harry and Ron's room."

"Did everything go okay? He didn't say anything bad to you did he? I hope not or I will burn his portrait to the ground." Amy interrupted looking at Sirius with concern.

"Settle down, Amy. Everything went better than expected. I think I can finally start putting my family issues behind me. Now if only we could destroy mother's portrait, I would be even happier but I suppose I can't win everything can I?"

"Actually, I think I can help you with that." Carissa piped up.

"How?" Sirius asked puzzled.

"How would you feel if Kingsley and I renovated the house for you? Made it a little more cheerful and added some colour instead of it being so dark. We have been talking about it for a while and think it would good for this place and you. I think I know a way to destroy your mother's portrait and get rid of those house elf heads for good too. We could completely transform this house, if you agree to it."

"How can you get rid of the portrait? We have tried everything." Sirius asked.

"Everything except, the muggle way. Cut the section of wall out that the portrait is stuck to, patch it up and then paint it. We won't get all the renovations completed before Hogwarts starts but since we are only there three days a week, we can work on it during our days off and should have the entire house finished within a few months." Carissa answered.

"That is a fantastic idea. Dobby would you mind helping Carissa and Kingsley get everything they need, whenever they want to start? Any money they spend can you get the goblins at Gringotts to transfer the money across to their bank accounts? The goblins are good at not asking too many questions about who I'm sending money too and won't inform the ministry, since they don't care too much for us." Sirius agreed.

"Are you sure that's safe Sirius? We don't want you to get caught just for these people." Hestia pipped up.

"I don't see how this matters to you Hestia. It's my house I can do whatever I want with it. Amy and Carissa, I actually came here to see if I could speak with you alone for moment, I have some matters that I wish to discuss with you both. Now is probably the best time to talk to you." Sirius said sounding cranky with Hestia.

Amy looked puzzled but replied quickly "Umm sure, I can talk to you now but not for too long I'm still hungry."

"Me too, this better be a quick meeting. Carissa added

The three of them walked out of the kitchen and followed Sirius into the meeting room.

"What's wrong Sirius?" Amy asked as soon as they were in the room.

"I've just found out that Voldemort went to school with my father. He was about three years older than my dad so we now know what year Voldemort graduated. It will help when you go searching the yearbooks at Hogwarts."

"That's great, not that I can do any research until next week but that gives me a starting point." Amy said breaking out into a huge grin.

"Also I have thought of a plan to help get Harry better at defending himself. I thought we could get Tonks, Kingsley and Remus to show him how Aurors defend themselves and us three could help them out with the practice. We might even convince Molly to let the other kids join in."

"That's a great plan Sirius. Leave Molly to me, I know how to convince her to let the others join in." Carissa said "When do you want to start training Harry?"

"As soon as we let the others know the plan." Sirius replied.

"Alright done, now can I go back to eating now?" Amy asked getting impatient

Sirius laughed " Yes you can, but save some for me I haven't eaten it before."

"Come with me and you shall enjoy this McDonalds feast with me." Amy took Sirius by the hand and dragged him back out of the room, forgetting Carissa was there.

"Sure don't worry about me, just leave me here." Carissa muttered as she followed them out of the room and back into the kitchen.

**A/N- Next chapter – Duelling begins and poor Amy isn't going to like it. Plus she also meets Orion's portrait and faces his interrogation. Carissa and Kingsley are as loved up as ever and Amy starts to develop even stronger feelings for Sirius but won't tell him.**

**What do you think about Hestia and Amy's mutual dislike for each other? Will they ever get along?**

**Thanks for continuing to read the story.**


	15. Not Perfect

**A/N- All characters belong to JK Rowling.**

**Previously- "Come with me and you shall enjoy this McDonalds feast with me." Amy took Sirius by the hand and dragged him back out of the room, forgetting Carissa was there. **

**"Sure don't worry about me, just leave me here." Carissa muttered as she followed them out of the room and back into the kitchen.**

**Chapter 15- Not Perfect**

"Come on Amy, you can do better than that."

Amy groaned as she pulled herself off the ground where she had fallen after Sirius had once again defeated her in a duel. It was starting to get extremely frustrating losing all the time.

"That's four rounds to nil Amy. I thought you were better than that, especially being a Ravenclaw." Sirius called out to her from the other side of the room.

"Just because I'm smart, doesn't make me good at everything." Amy snapped at Sirius.

"Okay calm down, I didn't mean it like that. I just didn't expect to win all four rounds so easily. Did you want to try again? You might win this time." Sirius asked, now standing at Amy's side.

"No thanks, I think I have been humiliated enough today." Amy said shaking her head as she decided to sit down again with her back up against the wall that she had just been knocked into "It looks like the kids are doing quite well though."

"I'm glad Carissa and Kingsley convinced Molly to allow the Weasley kids and Hermionie to join in. Still don't know how they managed to do it." Sirius said as he sat down next to Amy to watch them continue duelling with Remus and Kingsley.

"They both are good at convincing people and getting them to do what they need them to." Amy answered.

"Where is Carissa anyway? I thought she would be here helping?" Sirius asked as he casually put his arm around Amy's shoulders and pulled her closer to him.

"She was pretty worn out from completing all the renovations here, so she is resting in her room. It was a good thing everyone helped to get each different room done otherwise it would of taken months to complete rather then a week. Carissa told Dobby didn't even want to stop until the whole house was finished, he was going to go all week without food or sleep." Amy said.

"I know, I had to order him to sleep and eat and even then he only had few hours sleep and a tiny amount of food. I don't know how he did it but he even managed to restore everyone's names on the family tapestry. At least now there isn't just muggle haters on it, all the good Blacks are back on it, even if there aren't that many of us. It was a shame the whole thing couldn't be destroyed but it and the rest of the house look so much better now."

"The house feels happier now too, it doesn't feel so depressing. I suppose not having your mother screech at you every five minutes has to be a relief." Amy commented.

"It's made a huge difference, I think everyone is happier here now. I was so glad that I got to burn her portrait, it was oddly satisfying. Dad likes being out in the hallway now too, he likes to tell me what he thinks about everyone in the Order and he has even stopped with any pure blood nonsense."

Amy snorted "I know, he tries to get gossip off me every time I walk pass. He wants to know about everyone."

"And you don't gossip back?" Sirius smirked.

"Well maybe a little, but he has given me some really useful information on the Black family history and how involved you all were within the Wizarding world. Plus he has been helpful with trying to think of places where we could find any information on Voldemort, but most of those involve breaking into the Ministry or bribing someone to find any records of Tom Riddle."

Sirius laughed "Of course he would suggest something like that. While I am tempted to see if we could do it, even I know that it isn't such a good idea."

"I'm glad all this is helping you Sirius, it's nice to see you laugh. Even though I don't know if we will ever completely fix the damage of Azkaban, I'm glad you are getting slightly better." Amy said.

"It's only because of you. If you and Carissa weren't here, I don't think I'd be in any condition to do anything much. I feel healthier and happier now even if being stuck in this house is still annoying, at least it doesn't feel so much like a prison cell anymore." Sirius admitted.

"I'm glad we could help." Amy said.

"Don't take this the wrong way Amy, I like having you around but what are you going to do once Hogwarts goes back? I know Carissa and you were both only meant to stay here until school started and then you were going to live back at your own house. Are you still going to do that?"

"I don't know Sirius, obviously I have to return home at some point. I haven't even thought about it but I know that I can't stay here forever." Amy answered.

"You could, I wouldn't mind if you did." Sirius replied but it barely came out as a whisper.

"What and go on the run with you? Bonnie and Clyde style." Amy joked.

"Sure, not that I know who Bonnie and Clyde are but if that's want you want, we can do that." Sirius replied.

"I'll think I'll take the safer option of returning to my own house. I'll still come and see you every day even when I'm not working but I'm sure you will be glad to get rid of me after a while." Amy said.

"That's not true, I love having you stay here Amy. This place is probably safer for you then your own place." Sirius argued.

"Oi you pair, you were meant to be duelling not snuggling in the corner." Both Sirius and Amy moved away from each other as soon as they heard Kingsley's booming voice.

"That is true but due to my excellent duelling abilities where I defeated Amy 4 rounds to zero, I decided to stop. Since I didn't want Amy getting upset about losing to me all the time, I thought that we would have a little break." Sirius retorted.

"Excellent duelling abilities?" Kingsley questioned raising his eyebrows at Sirius.

"Yep, locked up for years and I'm still as awesome as ever." Sirius bragged.

"Alright everyone else take a seat. Sirius, get your butt up here." Kingsley ordered.

Sirius smile dropped "Wait, why?"

"Because if you are so confident in your ability, you can duel me. Unless you think you can't win, in which case you can stop bragging right now." Kingsley challenged.

"You are on Shacklebolt." Sirius jumped to his feet and walked over to face Kingsley while everyone else went and sat near Amy.

"Don't do too much damage Kingsley. I don't want to have to spend the night fixing up his injuries." Amy called out from her spot on the ground.

"Hey, you are meant to support me." Sirius exclaimed.

"I support you Muttley but I've known Kingsley a lot longer. I am many things Sirius but a fool is not one of them, my money is on Kingsley." Amy replied.

"You really think Sirius is going to lose that bad?" Harry asked quietly looking a little disappointed.

"Don't worry Harry, he won't hurt Sirius." Amy reassured.

Just as Amy finished her sentence the duel began. Kingsley didn't even have his wand out and Sirius was suddenly flying backwards into a wall before he even had the chance to react. The duel had only lasted ten seconds. The group was silent for a moment, not sure what had happened before Hermione finally spoke " Wandless magic."

"How did he manage to do that?" Ron asked.

"Can he teach us that?" Fred and George asked together.

"That's not fair Kingsley, you were meant to go easy on me. Not knock me out in ten seconds using wandless magic." Sirius said groaning as he stood back up.

" This is a lesson for you all to remember that you should never over estimate your ability to duel. You can be confident but never underestimate your opponent. I'm a good dueller but not as good Dumbledore or Voldemort. Even Moody could probably still defeat me, if I had an off day."

"What about wandless magic? Can you teach us more about it?" Ginny asked.

"Wandless magic is a great weapon to have up your sleeve. Most wizards don't use it because it drains too much energy from them. But if you practice enough you can perform it, exactly as I just did. Tell me, what would you do if you lost your wand during a duel?" Kingsley asked.

"Run?" Amy guessed.

"Punch them in the nose, well except for Voldemort. I'd have to punch him in his face." Sirius said as he came and sat back down with everyone else.

"Maybe but a Death Eater will still curse you from behind if you try to run and even if you get close enough to one to punch them, what next? If you can perform wandless magic, you give yourself a stronger chance to get your wand back and save your life."

Kingsley was just about to explain further when Molly came bursting into the room. "Children out of the room now. Dumbledore has called an emergency Order meeting."

"Why is he calling an emergency meeting?" Harry asked.

"Never you mind, out now. There are some things you don't need to know just yet. Out, out, out!" Molly insisted.

"Sirius?" Harry tried to plead with his Godfather

"Sorry Harry, but I agree with Molly on this one. While I'd love to have you in the Order, there are still some things that you need to get better at first." Sirius said.

"Like Occlumency?" Harry asked.

"Exactly, once you learn to how to block your mind, then we can discuss more things with you." Sirius said feeling bad about not allowing Harry to stay.

"Harry, let us find out what it is first and if we can tell you, then we will but some information can't be handed down to you just yet." Amy added trying to help Sirius.

Harry seemed to except this and started to leave the room with the other children following him.

"Teenagers, they are bloody hard to keep happy." Sirius muttered as he helped Remus and Kingsley set the room back up for the meeting.

"So I've heard but perhaps this is karma coming back to haunt you." Amy teased.

"Hey, what is that supposed to mean?" Sirius asked.

"I've heard from both your Dad and Remus, stories about your escapades as a kids." Amy explained laughing at the look on Sirius's face.

"I should never have moved Dad's portrait into the hall way, maybe mothers screeching would be better than Dad telling you stories of about my childhood." Sirius muttered.

"I believe cocky, arrogant and foolish were the most common words used to describe both you and James Potter." Amy continued.

"Maybe but you forgot charming, witty, intelligent and as most girls would describe us very sexy" Sirius retorted while giving Amy a cheeky wink.

Amy felt her heart flutter. Stupid, treacherous heart she thought and was struggling to think of a reply when Snape, McGonagall and Moody walked into the room.

"Looks like the cavalry has arrived." Amy shouted out and silently thanked Merlin for their impeccable timing.

"Still here I see lass. I'd be wary of what you say around me, one wrong word and I'll have you in Azkaban." Moody threatened Amy once again.

"Shut up will you, old man." said Carissa who had just entered the room next with Molly.

" I don't know why they are still staying here anyway. Who would want to stay in this filthy dog kennel?" Snape sneered

"Why Snivellus I sense a little bit of jealously towards me. I suppose it must be disappointing still having to live at Hogwarts since you have no home to go to. Is that chemistry set of yours, still your only friend?" Sirius retorted back.

Amy had to try not to laugh, how on earth Dumbledore ever thought this pair would get on together was beyond her.

"At least I can leave my house, unlike some people. Imagine if the Minister of Magic were to get a little tip off about your little puppy playmate here helping you. I'm sure there are a few people especially a certain Auror Gibbons that would be interested to find out that his girlfriend has aiding a wanted criminal." Snape said looking directly at Amy.

This time before Sirius had the chance to reply Amy stood up looking absolutely furious.

"First of all I am not his girlfriend any more, as I have told Ainsley numerous times. Secondly if you so much as breathe a word about Carissa and me knowing anything about Sirius to anyone outside the Order, I swear I will cut you up in to little pieces and feed you to Buckbeak."

"I assure you that you will not need to do that Miss Johnson. Severus will not disclose any information about you too anyone outside the Order." Dumbledore said walking into the room with Tonks and Hestia following behind.

Amy sat back down but was still seething that Snape was using her closeness with Sirius against her. Although if he hated Sirius that much, he would also hate anyone that had anything to do with Sirius, so of course he would target Amy.

"Now that we have everyone who is able to attend the meeting here, I have some extremely bad news. Dementors were sighted outside of Little Whinging this morning. I was notified by some squibs living in the area and arrived in enough time to stop them from hurting anyone. However the most concerning thing about this is that the squibs had also informed the Ministry about the dementors but the message was never passed onto the Aurors. The person who received the message first never even remembered being informed about it at all." Dumbledore explained.

"Why would Dementors be in Little Whinging? I'm guessing for Harry but who ordered the attack and why wouldn't the Aurors have been told?" Amy asked.

"Isn't it obvious that it was Voldemort who sent them." Hestia said trying to make Amy out to be stupid.

"I don't think so, it doesn't sound like Voldemort. Not from what Harry has told me, Voldemort sounds like he wants to kill Harry himself. The fact that the message wasn't passed on to the Aurors and someone had their memory wiped scream Ministry cover up to me. I just can't see Voldemort sending dementors to try and kill Harry, it doesn't sound like him. It sounds almost too easy for Voldemort." Amy argued.

"I agree with Amy, I believe someone inside the Ministry ordered the attack to stop Harry from spreading the word about Voldemort returning. I think the Ministry is scared that people will start believing Harry and not them." said Dumbledore.

"So Fudge then?" Carissa guessed.

"I don't believe it was Fudge himself but someone else who is close to Fudge. Somebody inside the Ministry didn't want Harry retuning this year. I just don't know who and don't have any evidence to prove it." Dumbledore sighed.

"So the ministry is still controlling the dementors?" Moody asked.

"For now they are. It will only be a matter of time before they fall under Voldemorts control though." Dumbledore answered.

"Great all we need is my psychotic cousin to find a way to escape Azkaban. She was mad before she even went into there, can you imagine what she will do if she is gets out now? "Sirius said angrily.

"Sirius I'm sure Bellatrix won't get out." Amy said trying to stay positive even though she had heard how crazy Bellatrix was and certainly didn't want to meet her if she did escape.

"It's not just Bellatrix, who do you think will get the blame for the escape? Voldemort doesn't exist according to the Ministry. But who is their most wanted criminal, the only person to ever escape Azkaban and Bella's cousin? Me, I'll get blamed for something I never did once again, just because Fudge is a fucking tosspot." Sirius yelled at Amy.

The room was silent for a moment before Sirius spoke again "I'm sorry Amy, I didn't mean to take it out on you. I'm just sick of being portrayed as this evil, horrible person and being blamed for crimes that I never committed."

Amy held Sirius hand in hers "We will clear your name one day Sirius, I know it's hard but you need to hold on just a little bit longer."

"Perhaps we should not worry ourselves too much about that matter just yet Sirius. We will cross that bridge later if we have to but for now Bellatrix is still locked up. I do however want all of you to be prepared in case the dementors are sent to attack Harry again. Sirius, I know you haven't been able to cast a patronus since you got out of Azkaban but I want you to keep trying. There has to be a happy memory strong enough to use in your memory somewhere. Amy and Carissa are you able to cast one at all?"

"I think so, it has been years since we have tried." Carissa answered.

"Would you please try and cast one now? So we can see what they are." Dumbledore asked.

Amy and Carissa both pulled out the their wands "Expecto Patronum" they said together. A pig came trotting out of Amy's wand, while a racoon come out of Carissa's.

"Squiggly piggly, I forgot that he was cute." Amy exclaimed watching the pig run around the room, looking for any signs of danger.

"You named your patronus?" Sirius asked in disbelief.

"Sure why not?" Amy answered shrugging her shoulders.

"Very well done ladies, Kingsley and Remus can show you how to send messages using your patronus to Order members later. Sirius can you try once again, perhaps instead of a past memory maybe a more recent one might work better." Dumbledore suggested.

Sirius thought for a moment, none of his memories had worked since he left Azkaban, even meeting Harry hadn't allowed him to cast one. He wondered if he used the memory of him meeting Amy, if that would work. She certainly had made him happier than he had been in a long time. While the initiall memory wasn't great with him being run over, the events afterwards had changed his life for the better.

" Expecto Patronum." Sirius yelled and a large dog looking exactly like his animagus form came bounding out before turning around and sniffing Amy. It then took off to chase the pig and raccoon around the room before the three animals disappeared.

"Excellent Sirius, I'm glad everyone here can now cast the spell. Now that matter is sorted, we can discuss the trip to Hogwarts tomorrow. Amy and Carissa are you all set to travel on the train? I know it was unexpected but the new defence teacher insisted on arriving at the school earlier to settle in." Dumbledore asked.

"Yes, that's fine and we will just come back here through the floo after the feast."

"Excellent, Kingsley, Tonks and Moody will all be at the station as well. Not that I believe anything will happen but we cannot be too careful in these times. Unless anyone else has another matter to discuss, I think we can finish up for now."

Everyone started leaving the room but Sirius just sat very quietly at the table.

"Sirius what's wrong?" Amy asked as she stood up to leave.

"Everything is changing very quickly Amy and I don't like it. The way things are going, I'll be dead before I'm proven innocent and I get my freedom again. How am I supposed to protect Harry if I can't leave the house? If Voldemort gets Bellatrix out of prison, there's no telling what she will do." Sirius answered as he finally stood up.

"And yet you still insist on coming to Kings Cross tomorrow, even though it is so risky."

"I know it's risky but I have too Amy, I'll be as careful as I can but I need to be there to see Harry off. You need to be careful to Amy, you need to promise me that if things start getting too dangerous for muggleborns, you will take Carissa with you and get to America with your family. I'd rather see you safe there than being executed by Death Eaters." Sirius begged.

"Sirius, I'm not going anywhere. I know when we first met, I said that we would be out of here if anything bad happened but Carissa and I both realised quickly that you and the Order need our support and we are prepared to support the cause in any way we can. We will fight with you Sirius." Amy declared.

"I just don't want to lose you Amy. I don't think I could handle it." Sirius said hugging Amy tightly.

"Sirius, you don't have to worry about me. I'm not even a tiny blip on Voldemort's radar and as long as I stay that way, I'll be okay." Amy replied.

"That still doesn't make me feel much better." Sirius said as he slowly let go of her.

"But it makes me feel more comfortable. Anyway if I were you, I'd be more worried about Hestia fawning over you." Amy joked trying to lighten the mood.

"She does not fawn all over me, she just appreciates my good looks."

"And your money." Amy pointed out.

"That too maybe but you needn't worry about her Amy, I don't really care for her that much. You are the only women that I truly care for." With that statement Sirius kissed Amy on the cheek and exited the room.

Amy sighed, she felt like she lost a little piece of her heart to Sirius every time they had conversations like this. It was becoming very hard to keep Sirius just as a friend when she wanted more. The connection she felt with Sirius was deeper then what she had felt with any other boyfriend but she couldn't admit that to anyone, not even Carissa. It wasn't fair on Sirius for her to ask for more from him, when he couldn't give it. Why did the heart have to complicate things? Couldn't it be sensible like the brain? Things would be so much easier that way, at least when she was dating Ainsley she had a very good excuse not to let her feelings for Sirius become too complicated. Now that she didn't have any romantic feelings towards Ainsley anymore, she couldn't use that as an excuse to keep Sirius at bay. While a part of her just wanted Sirius to snog her senseless, just so she could get it out of her system, somehow she didn't think that would work either. She would probably end up wanting more than just one kiss and that wouldn't help matters at all. Amy shook her head, why do things always have to get so messed up.

**A/N – Next chapter is the train ride to Hogwarts but not everything goes to plan. **


	16. An Unexpected Turn of Events

**A/N- All characters belong to JK Rowling. Don't forget if you like the story to let me know either by following the story or leaving a review. Sorry it has taken so long for an update but I've had a lot of stuff going on lately and not enough time to concentrate. This is also a really long chapter, the longest one yet.**

**Previously- While a part of her just wanted Sirius to snog her senseless, just so she could get it out of her system, somehow she didn't think that would work either. She would probably end up wanting more than just one kiss and that wouldn't help matters at all. Amy shook her head, why do things always have to get so messed up.**

**Chapter 16- An Unexpected Turn of Events**

"Well, well, well, look what the cat dragged in," Amy said, smirking as Carissa ran into the kitchen of Grimmauld Place.

"I'm so sorry Amy. I overslept this morning," Carissa apologised.

"Bullshit, you just didn't want to leave Kingsley's bed," Amy joked.

"You don't understand Amy, his bed is so comfy. I was tempted to steal it and bring it back to our house. I don't know what sheets that man buys but they feel so soft and smooth, they must be like a one thousand thread count or something," Carissa explained.

Amy chuckled "I think anything would be better than Aunt Vera's old sheets we have at home."

"Did everyone else leave already?" Carissa asked.

"Yeah but I didn't get to say goodbye to Sirius. He wanted to spend most of the morning with Harry on his own," Amy answered sounding a little disappointed.

"Amy, you will be seeing Sirius again tonight. I'm sure everything will be fine," Carissa said, shaking her head at how oblivious the two were being to each other's feelings.

"I know that but I can't help but worry about him. He has been through so much," Amy replied.

'It will be okay, Sirius will be fine. Now come on, let's go before we miss the train. The weather is terrible out there so I brought some umbrellas for us," Carissa said as she started walking out the door with Amy following behind her.

The both of them were only outside for a few seconds before Amy commented, "It feels too cold and miserable for summer. Look how dark the sky is, it is nearly black."

"It is a bit unusual isn't it? We should have taken your car," Carissa responded just as they heard a clap of thunder above them.

"Are you kidding me? I would never get a parking spot now," Amy replied as they continued walking towards the station, both trying hard not to lose their umbrellas to the gale force wind that was also blowing.

"I hope Kingsley and the others are alright in this miserable weather," Carissa said.

"Speaking of Kingsley, how are things with you? I haven't had a chance to talk with you much about him," Amy enquired.

Carissa grinned, "Things are great, I haven't been this happy in a long time. I tried to find the connection I have with Lee with other men but it just wasn't there. The only way I can explain it, is that if the connection isn't there you can't force it, believe me I tried. When Kingsley kissed me that first night we arrived here and told me how he still loved me and wanted me, I couldn't resist Amy. Things have escalated a lot more quickly than either of us thought it would, but it just feels like the right thing to do."

"I'm happy for you, I truly am. But I still think hearts are stupid things sometimes, they mess us up way too much. Especially when your heart wants one thing and your head screams something else," Amy said.

"Just snog him Amy, I'm sure he won't care. In fact he will probably enjoy it," Carissa replied.

"Snog who? What are you talking about?" Amy questioned, a little confused about where Carissa was going with her previous statement.

"Amy, I'm not blind. I've seen the way you two look at each other. As soon as one of you walks into a room, it's like a magnet draws you together. Then there's the amount of flirting that you both do with each other and how many times have you been talking to each other and just forget that there are other people in the room," Carissa pointed out to her clueless friend.

"It's not like that Carissa, we just get on really well. It's hard to explain, the feelings I get around him," Amy answered, realising that Carissa was talking about Sirius.

"Like you have a connection of sorts?'' Carissa prompted.

"Yes, kind of," Amy admitted.

"So can you honestly say if he snogged you right now, that you wouldn't feel a thing?" Carissa continued pushing Amy, trying to get her to admit her real feelings out loud.

Amy thought about how many times she had daydreamed about Sirius kissing her and how hard it was to not let those feelings show.

"I thought so," Carissa interrupted Amy's thoughts.

"Oh shut up, I'm not blind, the man is attractive after all. Half the women in the order have probably had some sort of crush on him at some point," Amy snapped.

"Maybe, but you are the only one who he wants. What is stopping you from telling him how you feel? You aren't still in love with Ainsley are you?" Carissa asked.

"No, I'm completely over Ainsley. I think he still wants me back, but I feel nothing romantically for him anymore. I told him that not long after the break up, but he has still been texting me wanting to patch things up," Amy confessed.

"So what is stopping you with Sirius then? Take the risk Amy, it might just pay off. It worked for Kingsley and me," Carissa urged as they reached the station and walked towards platform 9 and ¾.

"Just drop it alright. Kingsley and you are completely different," Amy said getting frustrated with her friend as she walked through the barrier at the station to get to Platform 9 ¾.

The wind blew stronger again when she came out the other side, hurting Amy's face as she tried spotting anyone else that she knew.

"I can see the Weasley's over there, although it looks like all the kids are already on the train," Carissa pointed out as she joined Amy.

"And there is Kingsley but where is Muttley?" Amy whispered not of wanting anyone to over hear her.

Just as she finished asking the question, a flash of black came rushing towards her and almost knocked her over. Padfoot started grabbing at Amy's robes and pulling her towards the bathrooms at the station.

Amy looked at Carissa, who had no idea what Sirius wanted but followed them both into the women's toilets.

Amy shut and locked the door while dropping her umbrella down on the floor.

"What is wrong, Sirius?" Amy asked as Sirius transformed back into his human form.

"Something isn't right Amy, I can feel it," Sirius answered looking worried.

"What do you mean?" Amy questioned.

"This whole morning doesn't feel right. The storm, the darkness around everywhere and the lack of certain known death eater families," Sirius hissed.

"Who isn't here?" Carissa demanded, as she put her umbrella down next to Amy's.

"The Malfoys," Sirius replied.

"Maybe they are running late," Amy suggested, although she doubted it.

"Amy, you don't understand Narcissa had pureblood customs drilled into her from the age of 5. A Black is never late. Draco is not on that train and there has to be a good reason why," Sirius said, getting a wild frustrated look in his eyes. Amy had seen this look in him before, mainly when people wouldn't listen to him or when he felt like he was being ignored.

"Maybe you are reading too much into this," Amy said gently, not wanting to upset him any more than he already was.

Sirius was about to reply when they heard screaming coming from outside.

"I told you," Sirius yelled at both Amy and Carissa and he went to run back outside.

"Wait," Amy grabbed his arm. "We need to think this through before you get us all killed."

"Amy is right, you know that Sirius," Carissa said.

"We don't have time to think. Harry is out there," Sirius argued.

While Sirius continued to argue with Amy, Carissa peaked out of the toilet door. She silently thanked Merlin that noise of everything going on around them covered the noise of the door opening. She saw a group of what she guessed were Death Eaters duelling with the Weasley's, Remus and Kingsley There were some other people fighting back as well, people who she didn't recognise but there were also others that were screaming and running back towards the barrier trying to get away. She looked at the train and saw that some of the children were running away from it but others were refusing to move at all.

Carissa turned around back to Amy and Sirius, "Here's the plan, you two will run over to the train and get as many kids as you can to safety. I'm going to help the others try and keep the death eaters away from that train for as long as we can. I don't know how you can do it but you need to think of something quickly."

Amy started thinking, she had a rough idea of what they could do but wasn't sure if it would work. "Are you sure this is a good idea Carissa?" she asked.

" Amy you can't defend yourself as good as I can. If they get past us, you two are the only ones left to get the kids to safety. If you stay with me, chances are you will get injured before being able to help anyone," Carissa explained.

" I agree with Carissa, now let's move," Sirius said impatiently.

The three of them snuck out of the bathroom, careful not to draw too much attention to themselves. Amy and Sirius headed over to the train while Carissa took off in the other direction.

"Sirius, Amy! What's happening?" Amy and Sirius both saw Harry running towards them with a group of kids behind him. Most of them Amy recognised but there were a couple of kids that she hadn't seen before, she was surprised that they weren't running in the opposite direction of Sirius.

"I'm not sure exactly yet but Death Eater's are here," Sirius answered.

"Harry this is important, I need you and everyone you know to get behind the back of train. Tell anyone who can apparate without getting themselves splinched to apparate to Hogsmeade and stay at the Hogs Head. If they can take other students at the same time allow them too but only if they are confident enough to do it safely," Amy instructed.

"What about the others who can't apparate yet? We can't jut leave them here." Hermione asked.

"Sirius, can you get Dobby and Kreacher here?" Amy questioned.

"I think so," Sirius nodded

"I need them to apparate as many kids as they can to Hogsmeade. Harry you need to leave with Dobby as soon as everyone is behind the train. I also need you to keep all the kids at the Hogs Head together until a teacher arrives." Amy continued to explain her plan, "Fred and George, you need to make sure people listen to Harry by any means necessary."

Amy glanced back to where the Death Eaters were, they were all still fighting but she didn't know how longer they would be held off or if more Death Eaters were being deployed. She jumped a little when she heard a pop next to her. She turned towards the noise and saw that Kreacher and Dobby had just appeared.

"Dobby, Kreacher is it possible for you to apparate any of these students out of here?" Sirius asked.

"Yes, Dobby can take them anywhere Master Paddy wishes."

"What about you Kreacher?" Amy asked.

"If Kreacher must take filthy brats," the old elf muttered.

"Duck!" Sirius screamed at Amy and pushed her down to the ground. Sirius lost his balance on the wet ground as he pushed her and ended falling down next to her.

Amy looked up above her and saw the stray curse that Sirius had spotted flying past her.

"Shit, we don't have much time," Amy swore as Sirius helped her stand up again.

"Dobby, you need to apparate as many students out of here as possible. Take Harry first and then come back for everyone else. Take them to the Hogs Head at Hogsmeade it should be safe there. Kreacher, I need you to tell Dumbledore what has happened, then return here to help Dobby. You are to help keep every student safe, if you do this I'll reward you very generously with whatever item from Black family vault that you choose," Sirius said, explaining quickly what Amy's plan was and knowing that he needed the elf to help them. Rewarding Kreacher was the only way that he would be able to guarantee that.

"What about you two?" Harry asked.

"We are going to try and keep the Death Eaters away from the train. But if they get through us, you kids are on your own until Dumbledore arrives. You need to get everyone out of here as fast as you can," Amy urged.

"But what if we want to stay and fight? They are after me, not anyone else." Harry shouted over the noise of the thunder and rain.

"I understand that Harry but not today. The best help you can give us is by making sure everyone else stays safe. Now go!" Sirius explained as best as he could, knowing his godson wasn't happy about not being allowed to fight.

"C'mon Harry, let's go," Ron said while pulling Harry away from Amy and Sirius.

Harry went reluctantly with his friends towards the back of the train with Dobby following them. Kreacher had already disappeared to get Dumbledore.

Amy looked away from the group and noticed a red haired women with a mask covering her face, running towards the train with her wand out.

"Not on my watch, bitch!" Amy yelled as she cast her first spell towards the women. The first spell missed but got the women's attention off the train and onto Sirius and Amy.

The women changed directions and started running towards Sirius and Amy throwing all sorts of curses at them. Sirius and Amy both managed to block them and return some curses back at her. The first round missed but they quickly fired a second round of spells. Amy managed to get a direct hit with a jelly legs jinx and the women found her legs collapsing on her.

"Expelliarmus," Sirius yelled disarming their opponent while she was distracted.

"Stupid Muggle lovers," the women started to yell.

"Stupefy," Amy yelled knocking the women out. "Stupid bitch," she added when she saw the women fall to the ground.

Sirius looked curiously at Amy.

'What? I didn't want to hear her," Amy explained shrugging her shoulders.

"That's how you duel Amy, that was great," Sirius exclaimed.

"It wasn't really a duel Sirius. She didn't even know I was here until the last minute and there were two of us on one," Amy replied.

"It doesn't matter Amy that was the best..." Sirius voice trailed off.

"What?" Amy asked as she saw Sirius face drain of colour.

"Voldemort's here," he answered.

"Fuck!" Amy swore and she turned around to check on the children. She saw that Hermione, Fred and George had stayed behind and there were still about 15 students they were trying to get to safety. It looked like Fred and George were helping Dobby and Kreacher apparate everyone out.

"Think we can hold him off long enough?" Amy asked Sirius.

"I don't know but we have to try or at least distract him until Dumbledore gets here," Sirius replied.

They watched Voldemort walking over towards the train ignoring everything else around him. Amy and Sirius rushed over to stand of front of the train in a defensive mode before he could reach it.

"Where is Harry Potter?" Voldemort demanded

"Really now, you're not even going to introduce yourself. That's quite rude, didn't your mother ever teach you any manners. Plus there are a few Harry Potters in the country, you might want to be more specific," Sirius answered cockily.

"How dare you speak to me with such insolence," Voldemort yelled and quickly threw a curse at Sirius but he moved out of the way in time.

"Wow using some big words there Tom, but still no manners," Sirius taunted and Voldemort looked furious.

"You know nothing about me, blood traitor. Don't you dare use that filthy name in front of me," Voldemort said icily.

"Maybe I don't know anything about you. However that doesn't matter, all you need to know is that you aren't getting past me today. By the way my name is Sirius Black, Harry's godfather. My mother may of been horrible old hag but she at least taught me manners," Sirius continued trying not to show any fear in front of Voldemort.

Voldemort laughed a cruel sound "I know who you are Black. Sirius Black, the boy who fought so hard against his families beliefs but became a Death Eater anyway."

"I am no Death eater," Sirius spat out.

Amy just stood there not moving or speaking as she was unsure of what to do, and terrified of Voldemort losing his temper and killing her.

"Of course you aren't, quite ironic isn't it? It's a shame you refuse to join me Black, I don't really want to kill you. You could be a valuable asset to me but you continue to side with Dumbledore," said Voldemort.

"The only one who will die today is you," Amy said, finally gaining some nerve and breaking her silence.

"And who are you? Did you pick yourself up a girlfriend while on the run Black? Now I thought you were smarter than that Sirius. I suppose she is one of Dumbledore's pawns as well? Speaking of Dumbledore, when was he ever really supportive of you Sirius. He judged you for your name, just like everyone else. He let you rot in Azkaban without even bothering trying to find out what really happened. He didn't even fight to give you a trial, he is the reason why you went to prison. You trusted him and yet he never really believed that you might have been innocent all along," Voldemort gave a cruel twisted smile as he exploited Sirius's weakness.

"But," Sirius was lost for words.

"What about all your so called friends letting you rot? They never really cared did they? Do honestly think that they care now? If they did, you would of been free a long time ago. But yet you are still running away from the Ministry," Voldemort continued trying to break Sirius's willpower.

"It doesn't matter, I chose my side years ago," Sirius replied but could feel the self doubt coming back again, maybe Voldemort was right about no one really ever caring about him.

"Ah but it does. You see I was planning to kill you, but I think I have something better to offer you. An agreement of sorts," Voldemort said.

"Don't listen to him Sirius," Amy pleaded, not liking how the conversation was going.

"Get your girlfriend to be quiet Black. I don't have much patience for things that annoy me," Voldemort threatened.

"What sort of agreement are you suggesting?" Sirius asked as he pulled Amy behind him, trying to keep her out Voldemort's way incase he did try and kill her.

"I give you Pettigrew and you get your revenge," Voldemort replied.

"What do you get in return?" Sirius questioned.

"You fight for me," Voldemort answered.

"Wait, so you are saying that I can do whatever I want with Pettigrew and you won't care. In return I just have to support you instead of Dumbledore," Sirius queried.

Amy shook her head, as she hoped Sirius didn't make a deal with the devil standing in front of them. He had come so far from the broken man he was and it looked to her like Voldemort was trying drag Sirius back into those horrible memories.

"Kill him, torture him or feed him to the dementors, I don't really care. A man of your talent should not be wasted, especially being from such an ancient bloodline. Wormtail isn't as valuable to me as you are." Voldemort continued trying to get Sirius to change sides.

"What about Harry? You don't think I'll give him up do you?" Sirius asked.

"That would be a problem. He does have remarkable talent though, something that is a shame to waste. I suppose I could allow you both to join me, for a price of course."

"I don't understand where you are going with this? Harry would never join you and neither will I, we would both rather die. What could you possibly give us to make us change our minds?" Sirius was very curious to see what Voldemort would offer.

"You are forgetting the bigger picture. With the three of us on the same side, the Ministry will fall in no time. We will all get revenge on every single person who has betrayed us. You get Pettigrew and any so called friends, I will kill Dumbledore so he won't be able to stop us and I'm sure Harry will do whatever necessary to make sure your name is cleared. I can give you freedom and power. I can give you back everything that Dumbledore, his pathetic Order and the Ministry took from you." Voldemort explained.

"And you promise to let Harry live?" Sirius questioned.

"The boy will stay untouched as long as he doesn't try and hurt me. We run the Ministry how I want it and punish all of those who have wronged us. The wizarding world is a mess, if you and Harry join me we will have complete control and no one will stop us. That isn't too much of a price to pay for gaining your freedom again is it. I have the power to give you your life back." Voldemort continued to pressure Sirius.

" Please don't do it Sirius! He will kill you anyway and you know Harry would rather die than join with him. Remember we both care about you," Amy whispered to Sirius, hoping that Voldemort wasn't paying her too much attention.

Sirius pushed all of what Voldemort had said out of his head. This is why Voldemort was so good, he had a way of knowing peoples weaknesses and self doubts. But Sirius had Harry and Amy, who he knew he could trust and he was even starting to slowly gain more trust in some of the Order members. Harry and Amy both wouldn't forgive him for changing sides and that he couldn't live with. He still hated Pettigrew and wanted him to rot in hell but it wasn't worth seeing the look on Harry's or Amy's face if he joined Voldemort. He would get his revenge on Pettigrew but today wasn't the day, he had already waited fourteen years, he would wait another fourteen if he had too. He couldn't turn back on everything he always stood for just because Voldemort was offering what he had been wanting for so long.

"My answer is the same as last time you tried to recruit me. NO!" Sirius yelled as he sent curse towards Voldemort who blocked it easily.

"You think you can defeat me!" Voldemort laughed.

"Maybe not alone but the two of us together can," Amy said throwing a curse his way as she stepped back up next to Sirius.

"Or perhaps you would prefer to duel me Tom?"

Amy had never been so relieved to see Dumbledore in her life as he appeared behind Voldemort.

"Hello Albus, just in time to see me kill a pair of lovebirds. Such a shame to kill another pure blood, however it must be done," Voldemort spoke as he turned around to face Dumbledore.

"You will be killing no one here tonight Tom," Dumbledore replied calmly.

"You old fool, you can't always win," Voldemort replied

" Maybe not, but I suggest you apparate out of here now Tom or perhaps even run," Dumbledore said looking behind Voldemort and at Sirius.

Sirius understood what Dumbledore needed him to do. He grabbed Amy's hand and pulled her along with him, as ran away from Voldemort and Dumbledore just as they started to duel. They came to stop once they reached the barrier of the station not far from where most of the fighting had been.

"Amy, I need to get out of here, aurors and ministry officials will be here soon. Come back to Grimmauld place with me, you will be safe there," Sirius said.

Amy looked around and saw bodies lying on the ground and blood everywhere. The Death Eaters had either been caught or had disappeared. The whole platform was eerily quiet as people tried to work out who was injured the worst. Amy looked back towards Voldemort and Dumbledore just in time to see Voldemort apparate out. Thank Merlin, he was gone for now.

"I can't, I have to stay here Sirius, they will need my help to treat the injured and I need to make sure Carissa is ok," Amy said.

"But Amy.." Sirius went to stay but Kingsley came running up and interrupted them.

"Sirius get out of here now, ministry people are already here. Amy you need to come and help Remus, he is bad shape," Kingsley urged.

Sirius went to protest about leaving Remus behind "Go Sirius, I'll make sure Remus is ok. I promise," Amy reassured him.

Sirius said "Be careful Amy, come home safe please," he looked like he wanted to something else, but disappeared with a pop before Amy could ask what it was.

"Where is Remus? Amy asked Kingsley, who was just standing there grinning at her.

"Not a word from you about Sirius, you are as bad as Carissa," Amy muttered.

"He is over this way. Be careful but Amy, we want you home safe," Kingsley teased.

"Shut up," Amy retorted.

Kingsley laughed as he got Amy to follow him. They made their way over to Remus, having to step around all the other people laying on the ground being treated for their injuries. It was a horrible scene, from what Amy could see there were quite a few nasty curses used by the Death Eaters.

When they reached Remus, Amy crouched down next to him and saw that he was vomiting up blood. A lady with long blonde hair was holding him carefully one side and Carissa was sitting next to him on the other side, holding a bucket up for him.

"He won't stop Amy, I don't know any spells to try to stop it," said the blonde women, who Amy guessed must have been Tonks in disguise.

Amy ran her wand over Remus and cast some quick diagnostic scans.

"Is there any bleeding elsewhere on his body? And did anybody hear what spell he got hit with?" Amy asked quickly as she tried to figure out how to heal Remus the best.

"It sounded something like Sangeeiem Erupto or something like that," Carissa answered.

"Sanguinem Eructo?" Amy suggested.

"Yes, that sounds like it. I checked for other bleeding as well but there is nothing. It's just the vomiting," Carissa said.

"We need to get him to St Mungo's now. He has been hit with a dark curse that causes someone to start bleeding internally. He needs potions to stop the vomiting and then a blood replenishing potion to replace all this blood he has lost," Amy explained.

"Can we apparate him there like this?" Kingsley asked.

"No, it's too risky, that can cause more damage. We need to use the floo network or take him by muggle methods. I wish I had brought my car here, we could have put him in that and driven him there," Amy replied.

"My house is just about a 10 minute walk from here. We could use the floo there," Kingsley suggested.

Amy thought carefully before saying, "Here's the plan, we catch the Knight Bus to take us to Kingsley's place and from there we can floo into St Mungo's. It will be rough but that is a safest option we have without getting noticed by too many muggles."

"Let's go," Tonks said, with her and Kingsley helping Remus up as he continued to vomit blood everywhere. Carissa continued to hold the bucket up for him.

"Amy Johnson, you stay right there and don't move," they heard a voice yell out to them.

Amy spun around and saw Ainsley looking furiously at her. She had a quick check of his aura and the reddish brown colour surrounding him confirmed her suspicions that she was in big trouble with him.

"What the hell did you do Amy?" Ainsley yelled at her.

"At the moment I am trying to help a patient, quite clearly," Amy replied calmly but her heart was starting to beat faster and she was beginning to panic.

"You were seen fighting with Sirius Black, you need to explain what happened right now Amy," Ainsley demanded.

"Ainsley a man is dying, don't make me do this now. I'll answer everything, just let me get him to St Mungo's first," Amy pleaded.

"I don't care Amy, you were just seen fighting with a wanted man. I have to arrest you, even if you are my girlfriend," Ainsley said.

"First of all, I am not your girlfriend anymore. I've told you that and I'm not changing my mind. Second of all, while I understand that you need to do your job, just let me get him to St Mungo's first and then I'll go with you without putting up any resistance," Amy begged.

"No you aren't going anywhere. Amy Johnson you're under arrest for conspiring with death eaters and harbouring a criminal." Amy felt her wand being ripped out of her hand and her hands pulled behind her and bound by what felt like invisible ropes.

"What the fuck are you doing Ainsley? We need her, come with us if you need to but don't do this here." Carissa shouted at Ainsley.

"No! He can wait to get treated, like everyone else is," Ainsley yelled back.

"You can't do this, he will die Ainsley," Amy pleaded, as she started to cry. The whole day had started to take it's toll on her. Not only had she just stood up to one of the most feared wizards ever but now her ex boyfriend was arresting her and she had no idea how she was going to get out of this.

"I can and I will. I'm taking you to Azkaban until I can get this mess sorted out," Ainsley snapped as he grabbed her roughly and got ready to apparate her out.

"Amy, what do we do?" Carissa asked quickly.

"Get him to see Octavius Bowen, he is the best person to treat him. Do whatever you have too, but make sure Occy is the one that treats him and tell him that I sent you." Amy replied as fast as she could, she hoped they understood her but she didn't have time to go into anymore detail.

Carissa nodded as she helped Kingsley and Tonks carry Remus away.

"Tell Muttley that I'm sorry I couldn't help," Amy called out after them and silently hoped that Sirius would understand that she did try to save Remus.

"I'm sorry Amy but I need to do this," Ainsley tried to apologise but Amy didn't think that he really meant it.

"If he dies, I will never forgive you for it," Amy stated.

"Amy, don't be silly. He was probably going to die anyway, whether you went there or not," Ainsley cruelly replied.

Amy looked at him with hated burning in her eyes as she spoke "If he dies, you die."

Ainsley didn't say anything in reply as he apparated both of them from the train station and took Amy to the one place she never thought she would end up, Azkaban.

**A/N – Originally I had Carissa being killed off here but I couldn't do it. I'm not sure about Remus yet, I didn't plan on killing him off but I'll have to wait and see how my next chapter turns out. Don't forget to leave a review if you like the story and let me know what you might like to see happen. Once again thankyou to all my lovely readers. Stay safe xxxx**


	17. A Great Escape

A/N – All characters belong to JK Rowling

Don't forget to let me know any pairings that you like or where you might like to see the story end up.

**Previously- "Amy, don't be silly. He was probably going to die anyway, whether you went there or not," Ainsley cruelly replied.**

**Amy looked at him with hated burning in her eyes as she spoke "If he dies, you die."**

**Ainsley didn't say anything in reply as he apparated both of them from the train station and took Amy to the one place she never thought she would end up, Azkaban**

**Chapter 17 – A Great Escape**

Amy got a shock as she fell face first onto the ground after Ainsley apparated them out. He had accidently let go of her as they landed, and she had lost her balance. "Fucking hell that hurt!" she cried out as Ainsley pulled her up off the hard concrete.

Ainsley started pushing into Amy's back, forcing her to walk forwards. She slipped on the wet ground as she tried looking around to find out where exactly they had landed. Amy recognised the old phone booth she saw and the other buildings nearby instantly. They were at the Ministry of Magic.

"Why are we here?" Amy questioned, feeling relieved that they weren't at Azkaban yet but also worried. She remembered what Sirius had told her when they first met. He had been tortured for hours before they had sent to him Azkaban and even after that they still didn't give him a trial. Would they do the same to her?

"I need to speak with Amelia before I take you anywhere else," Ainsley replied.

"So you're just taking me inside the Ministry for questioning then?" Amy asked, trying to find out more information.

"No, we aren't going inside the Ministry at all, and will you just shut up for once in your life," Ainsley snapped at her, shoving her in the back.

"Wait! Where are you taking me then?" Amy demanded as she tried to turn around to face Ainsley. She was starting to a get a really bad feeling in her stomach about this and didn't like the way Ainsley was speaking to her.

Amy didn't get a reply from Ainsley but felt his hand slap her cheek.

"Stop asking questions, you have already fucked up enough things for me already. I'm trying to fucking help you here and you keep asking stupid questions!" Ainsley roared and then he slapped Amy again. It was even harder this time as she felt her head jerk back from the force of it and her face hurt a lot more than it did the first time.

Amy kept quiet but inside she was furious, she knew she couldn't hit him back, at least not with her hands still tied together. She could head butt him or kick him in his groin, which would make her feel better but it wouldn't help her situation. Her best bet was to shut up at this stage and try to keep her thoughts clear before the situation got any worse. She certainly wasn't going to let him see her cry over it, she would keep her emotions in check until she had to let it out, she wouldn't give him the satisfaction of seeing her cry.

Amy was pulled from her thoughts when they came to an abrupt stop in front of a small brick house a few blocks away from the Ministry. Amy realised that she had been so deep in her thoughts that she hadn't even felt Ainsley moving her. She needed to re-focus after the shock of everything that had happened and get her mind straight.

She had to think of a plan, it didn't have to be a good one, it just had to help her get out of this mess. Living with Carissa and now Sirius had taught her a few things. Sometimes you needed to do the unexpected and sometimes you needed to do things that you never thought you would do. She couldn't be the loyal, predictable Amy that Ainsley thought she was. Amy had to look after herself now, she couldn't worry about what might happen to Ainsley if she did manage to escape. She needed to get out of this mess, and to do that she needed to think and act like Carissa or Sirius would. If she acted like herself, she was more than likely going to be tortured until she broke and then handed over to the Dementors.

"What is this place Ainsley?" Amy asked quietly, not sure what his reaction would be but she needed to get him talking again somehow.

"This is the place where we take all of the most dangerous criminals we arrest and interview them before they go to Azkaban. The ones that are caught for stealing or minor breaches of the law still go through the normal Ministry buildings but the dangerous ones come here. It's mostly just a safety precaution to protect all the Ministry officials, the interview rooms are the same in both places but this house has more protection on it to prevent prisoners escaping from it."

"Surely you don't think I'm that dangerous, do you? I'm not dangerous at all, you know that. I wouldn't hurt anyone especially those kids. Please don't send me to Azkaban." Amy begged as she tried to buy more time for a plan to form in her head.

"Not now Amy, we will talk more inside," Ainsley promised as he started pushing Amy closer to the building door.

_Run now,_ a voice screamed inside Amy's head.

Amy knew what she had to do now. She was going to be in bigger trouble with the Ministry but if she entered that house she would have a harder time trying to escape. She already felt that exhausted, she wouldn't have much energy to fight her way out if she had to. Plus when you couldn't use your arms and had no wand, it made things a lot more difficult. Amy had an idea form in her mind, she felt guilty about doing this but it was the only way she could get out of this mess. She just hoped Ainsley had underestimated what she would do to avoid Azkaban and that Sirius would understand that anything she did in following few minutes was just so she could escape.

Amy forced herself to let her emotions out, she thought about everything that had happened over the morning and the possibility of being tortured and then left to rot in Azkaban for the rest of her life. She felt a few small tears start to run down her face but the more she thought about it the louder her sobs become. She didn't want to be stuck in that hellhole, she wanted to have more girl's nights in with Carissa just catching up on things, she wanted to help people that needed her, she loved being a doctor but most of all she wanted to see Sirius again. Even if it was too just hug him one more time, or hear his voice once more, she wasn't going to let Ainsley ruin that chance for her.

Amy felt Ainsley's hands on her shoulders, as he spun her around to face him. Amy's crying had obviously gotten to him which was exactly what she wanted.

"I'm sorry Amy, I really am," Ainsley said as he stroked Amy's face where he had hit it."My temper gets the better of me sometimes and I just lash out."

Amy wanted to question him further on who else he took his temper out on but didn't have time. The slap was a side of Ainsley she had never seen before. He had always been good at verbally manipulating her, but he had never physically hit her until now. Amy was glad she had finally realised the type of person he was and could never go back to him but she had a role to play now and she needed him to believe her.

"I'm just scared Ainsley, none of this was meant to happen. I was just trying to help get those kids to safety and now everyone thinks I'm a criminal. I'm really scared that I won't survive if I go to Azkaban," Amy pretended that she was still distraught over what had happened.

"It's alright Amy, I'll take care of you. I'll get you out of this, I promise." Ainsley pulled Amy towards him and started kissing her, gently at first but then more passionately. Amy returned the kiss, even though she felt nothing. She had to make him believe that she was the predictable, old Amy that he thought he knew.

"Now will you come inside please, so we can sort this out?" Ainsley asked as he finally broke off the kiss and let go of holding her.

Amy nodded her head in agreement "There's just one thing Ainsley."

"What's that?" Ainsley questioned, his dark brown eyes staring at her intently.

"I'm not going to Azkaban and I'm not going inside that house."

As soon as the words come out of her mouth Amy head butted Ainsley as hard she could. She heard him cry out in pain and then as she saw him raising his hands to protect his head, she lifted her leg up and kneed him in the groin. She nearly lost her balance as she did that but managed to recover quickly. Amy then brought her leg up again and kicked him in the head as he bent over to clutch his groin. The last kick managed to knock him to the ground.

"That last kick was for you slapping me, asshole." Amy spat out and then ran as fast as she could away from him.

Amy wasn't sure how long he would stay down or how much time she had before Ainsley or another auror tracked her down. She needed to find a place to hide so she could apparate out without splinching herself. Her years of running gave her an advantage in speed but Ainsley had flexibility and agility from his auror training. This was going to come down to thinking on her feet. She turned right down the nearest street corner, almost slipping over in the rain. The next two streets after that she turned left, not taking any notice of the people staring at her as she ran past. Amy had no idea where she was running to and the stormy weather was making things worse. She decided to turn right again but found herself down an alley that lead nowhere.

Amy spotted a dumpster that an Indian restaurant and other businesses nearby used. The lid on it was open and there were milk creates piled next to it. Amy prayed that her plan to hide in it would work, she couldn't get caught now. She kicked a milk create over so it was right in front of the dumpster and stood on top of it. She leaned over into the dumpster so her body was already half inside. It smelt disgusting but it was the best place for her to hide until she was able concentrate properly to apparate. Amy pushed off with her feet as hard as she could. She didn't have much strength left so she needed to get this right the first time.

Amy felt a sharp pain in her stomach as she launched herself over the side of the bin, head first. She landed on plastic bags thankfully but felt her knees and legs hit some metal on the way down. She was also pretty sure that a piece of glass had cut her right leg as she landed because she could now feel blood running down it.

Amy closed her eyes and groaned, she really didn't want to see what she had just landed in. While she had a soft landing on top of the garbage bags, the dumpster reeked so bad that Amy thought she was going to vomit everywhere. There was some sort of sticky substance on her hands and Amy didn't really want to know what it was. She tried to roll over onto her back but it was too hard with all the plastic bags. She nearly ended up with rubbish in her mouth as she struggled to fight against them.

Amy decided to stop moving and just laid there face down in a pile of rubbish, trying not vomit from the awful smells that were saturating her nose. She concentrated on what she needed to do, she needed to apparate out but where? When she thought about it, the answer was obvious. There was only one place she still could go now, one place where she knew that she would always be safe and there was only one person who knew what it felt like to be in this position. She kept completely still and pictured in her mind where she needed to go.

Amy opened her eyes when she hit the ground face first again. She had landed right on the doorstep of Grimmauld Place, exactly where she wanted to. She hoped no one had seen her appear from the road but she didn't have a choice, she had to appear somewhere and even if anyone had seen her, she was sure Dumbledore could fix it.

Amy soon realised that she needed to use what strength she had left to roll over otherwise she could be stuck outside all day. She couldn't push or pull herself up to knock on the door, so she needed to kick the door. She needed to make sure someone could actually hear it though, otherwise she was stuck, where anyone could find her. Amy knew that she could use more force to kick if she was on her back, rather than on her stomach. She sighed, this had been a really horrible day for her and she prayed once again that this worked for her. She summoned all the strength she had left and moved herself to roll on her back. Thankfully it worked and she starting kicking at the door with both of her feet, hoping that someone would hear her.

Amy was just about to give up when she felt the door open and saw a blurred vision of what appeared to be Sirius standing over her. She could barely understand what he was saying as her legs fell to the ground. Amy's eyes started to close and she heard Sirius yelling out to her too stay awake and not to go to sleep, but it was all too much for her body to handle. Amy allowed her eyes to close and she slipped into darkness, leaving behind a very worried and frightened Sirius.


	18. When Love Comes to Town

**A/N – All characters belong to JK Rowling**

Thank you once again to all my wonderful readers, I hope you are all enjoying the story.

**Previously - Amy's eyes started to close and she heard Sirius yelling out to her too stay awake and not to go to sleep, but it was all too much for her body to handle. Amy allowed her eyes to close and she slipped into darkness, leaving behind a very worried and frightened Sirius.**

**Chapter- 18 When love comes to Town**

Amy's head started pounding as soon as she opened up her eyes. The memories of what had happened earlier came flooding back, as she sat up in the bed.

"Nice to see that your awake. How are you feeling? "

Amy looked to her side and saw Sirius sitting beside the bed holding her hand. She was able to move her both hands now as they weren't tied behind her back, she guessed that Sirius must have reversed the spell on them.

"I feel horrible. My body feels like I have been hit by a truck." Amy answered.

"Is there anything I can do? There's some water on your beside table, if you want it." Sirius pointed out.

"Thanks, the water will be fine." Amy said as she took a sip of it.

"What the hell happened Amy? The last time I saw you, you were going to help Remus and the next minute you show up on my doorstep, about to pass out. I didn't know what had happened, I thought someone else had tried to kill you after I left," Sirius questioned Amy, looking at her with concern showing on his face.

Amy put her glass of water back down and took Sirius's hand again. "After you left and I was trying to save Remus, Ainsley showed up."

"What did he want?" Sirius asked calmly but Amy still felt him tense up.

"He wanted to arrest me. He was going to take me to Azkaban for fighting with you." Amy replied waiting for Sirius's response.

"What?" Sirius asked again, thinking that he had heard wrong.

Amy was about to repeat herself, when they heard shouting coming from downstairs.

"Sirius!" they heard a voice that sounded like Carissa's bellowing.

"Sirius! Get here now." they heard her call again.

Sirius looked at Amy apologetically and ran out of the room to find Carissa. He just reached the stairs when he saw her storming up them.

"Sirius, we need to go now. Amy's in trouble, we need to save her," Carissa urged.

"Wait Carissa," Sirius tried explain that Amy was safe but was interrupted by a seething Carissa.

"If you care even half as much as I think you do about Amy, you will shut up and listen to me. Amy has been taken to Azkaban, we need to go now! You are my only hope of even trying to get her out of that place." Carissa yelled at Sirius.

"Carissa, you know that I'd do anything for Amy. I am fucking terrified of that place but if Amy was there I'd go back in a heartbeat to save her. But she's not there Carissa, she's here." Sirius yelled back.

"Do not fuck with me Black! I am not in the mood for games." Carissa warned pointing her wand at Sirius.

"Just follow me, will you." Sirius said as he turned around and walked back into Amy's room.

Carissa got the shock of her life when she walked in behind Sirius to find Amy sitting up in her bed. "Amy, you escaped!" she exclaimed in disbelief as she ran over to hug her best friend.

"They can't get rid of me that easily." Amy joked, hugging Carissa back.

"But how did you escape? I didn't think you would be able to get away at all, that's why I was going to try and rescue you." Carissa asked as she sat down on the bed next to Amy and Sirius took his spot back on the chair next to the bed, holding Amy's hand again.

"After Ainsley arrested me he took me to the Ministry, not straight to Azkaban like I thought he would. I managed to trick him into believing that I would cooperate with him but when he let his guard down, I head butted him, kicked him in the groin and then ran for my life. I hid in a dumpster until I knew it was safe to apparate here. This was the only place that I knew I would be safe at." Amy explained.

Sirius rubbed circles round Amy's hand as he spoke "You gave me a fright when I found you, I thought you were going to die on me. I sent a message to Dumbledore to let him know that you were here but I haven't received anything back yet. My father knew the spell so I could untie your hands and I did some basic healing and cleaning charms on you. I could feel that you were breathing ok but I didn't want to wake you up in case I did more damage to you. I was worried that maybe you wouldn't even wake up at all"

Amy wasn't sure what to say, what exactly did you say in reply to that? She couldn't tell Sirius the truth, that she was glad that it was him who found her and that he was main reason why she had survived.

Amy decided to make a joke about it and then change the subject. "I'm glad I survived too, it's much comfier here than I expect Azkaban to be. Carissa, what about Remus? Is he going to be ok?"

"Remus is going to be fine. He just needs to stay in St Mungo's for about four to five days for them to monitor his blood levels and make sure there are no weird after effects from the curse. That specialist you suggested Amy, he dropped everything to treat Remus straight away. I was quite impressed by him." Carissa informed them.

"That's why I recommended Occy. He is one of the fairest, most non discriminating healers that I've ever worked with. He has treated werewolves and vampires from all around the world and heals people in order of priority of their injuries not their blood status like some other healers do." Amy commented and then asked Sirius "Have you heard anything from Harry?"

"I spoke to Dobby just before I found you. He said that all of the students got back to Hogwarts uninjured, however I think there were a couple of parents hurt and possibly one or two parents killed," Sirius said solemnly.

They sat quietly for a moment, absorbing the fact that even though they had all tried to prevent anyone from dying, they hadn't been able to save everyone.

Carissa broke the silence by asking Amy, "How did you get that bruise on your face? I just noticed it."

Amy didn't reply straightaway, she was trying to decide on what to tell them. If she told them about Ainsley, she was sure both Carissa and Sirius would be out the door ready to beat the crap out of him. If she didn't tell the truth though, Carissa would probably know that she was lying.

"Amy?"

"I don't know, it was probably from falling on my face or something when I escaped." Amy said shrugging her shoulders.

"Amy Louise Johnson! I have known you long enough now, to know when you aren't telling me everything. Now what happened? Why don't you want to tell us?" Carissa demanded to know.

Amy realised that she had to tell them, she would probably let it slip further on down the track anyway. She hoped that they stayed calm and let her explain before they ran off and tore Ainsley to shreds.

"The bruise could be from when I fell over but it could also be from when Ainsley hit me." Amy said quickly.

"He did what!" Sirius exploded.

"He hit me a couple of times actually." Amy confessed and she watched Sirius's eyes turn from his usually grey to black. The last time she saw them that colour, Sirius had almost killed Snape, this was the exact reason why she didn't want to tell him.

"I'm going to find that fucker and I'm going to tear him limb from limb." Sirius spat out as he went to stand up.

'No!" Amy shouted and pulled him pack down into his seat.

"He can't get away with it Amy." Sirius argued and both women could see the anger radiating from him.

"He didn't get away with it. After he hit me, I was furious too. I couldn't do anything straight away so I had to wait until I formed a plan. It wasn't great but it was the best I could come up with. I pretended that I was upset about going to Azkaban, which in truth I really was. Ainsley apologised for hitting me when he saw that I was upset and started kissing me and promising that he would fix everything for me." Amy paused as she felt Sirius tense up even further when she mentioned Ainsley kissing her but continued anyway. "After he stopped kissing me, I knew he was distracted and wasn't expecting me to do anything. So that was when I head butted him and kicked him in the groin."

Sirius and Carissa were speechless, they had never expected Amy to do anything like that either.

"That was deceitful, dishonest and extremely risky behaviour Amy" Carissa said, pausing slightly before grinning madly and adding "It was an absolutely brilliant plan though. Ainsley finally got what he deserves, I'm so proud of you for not taking his crap."

Amy looked to Sirius whose eyes had changed back to their usual grey. "I still want to rip his throat out for doing that to you Amy, but your plan was brilliant. I'm just so glad it worked, I don't know what I would of done if you hadn't arrived back here safe."

"It was close, Ainsley was going to take me into some house. I think that the aurors may use it to torture the really dangerous criminals there, away from the rest of the Ministry." Amy said shuddering at the thought.

"They do, that's where I was taken before Azkaban. They tortured me for hours there, trying to get me to admit what I had done." Sirius confirmed, as the horrible memories starting to resurface from the back of his mind.

"That doesn't make sense. There is no way Kingsley or even Tonks would agree to torturing people." Carissa piped up looking confused, she knew Kingsley would never torture anyone. In fact she knew that he stood against any form of torture no matter what a person had done.

"Ainsley never said that's what he was going to do but Sirius was taken to the exact same place and they tortured him. You would think that they were going to do the same to me" Amy pointed out, realising now just how lucky she had been to escape.

"Do you mind me asking exactly what they did Sirius? You don't have to, if it's too uncomfortable for you to talk about it in front of me." Carissa asked Sirius

Sirius nodded his head, as much as it was painful for him. Both women needed to know exactly what Amy could have gone through, what that bastard Ainsley could have done to her "They tied me down on my back and forced water down my throat so I felt like I was drowning. I still fear going under water to this day because of it, sometimes even when I'm just having a shower the memories will come back. When the drowning method didn't break me, they started using the Cruciatus curse on me. They Ministry had approved the use of all the Unforgivables at the time ,so the aurors weren't exactly doing anything wrong with that but it still doesn't seem right that they were allowed to get away with using it. It was something that I never care to experience again nor have someone I care about go through. If they had done any of that to you Amy, I would have burnt the entire Ministry down. I'd make every single person who hurt you pay for what they did."

Amy rubbed Sirius's hand as she stared into his eyes "It is over now Sirius. You will never have to go through that again and they didn't get to me. They came close but I'm safe here with you now. They can't hurt either of us while we are here."

Sirius kept his gaze on Amy, as he pushed his old memories back down and focussed on the new happy memories that Amy gave him whenever she was around.

Carissa who was still confused, interrupted their moment "It still doesn't make any sense to me. I know Kingsley and he would never stand by and let that happen to anyone."

"Maybe we can just ask him about it when he gets back here? Maybe they don't use torture anymore? "Amy suggested.

"Umm, it could be a very long time before we get an answer then." Carissa replied quietly.

"Why?" Amy and Sirius asked simultaneously

"Not only has he been called into the Ministry and could be stuck there for a long time sorting out what happened today. He is also really pissed off with me." Carissa told them.

"What did you do?" queried Amy.

"I stole a car." Carissa blurted out.

"You did what?" Amy exclaimed while Sirius started laughing at the thought of the blue haired witch trying to steal a car and Kingsley just looking at her in exasperation as he tried to cover their tracks.

"I didn't have a choice. I knew the Knight bus was going to be really rough on Remus and that it would be better if we could drive him to Kingsley's place. When I saw a man about to get into his car, I stupefied him and took his keys. Kingsley by this stage was yelling at me not to do it but it was too late. We all got bundled into the car including the Muggle and I drove us to Kingsley's home. I even managed to get us all there safely, without running over anything. Kingsley stayed behing and modified the man's memory while Tonks and I got Remus to the hospital. By the time Kingsley arrived at St Mungo's he was furious with me. He was telling me how dangerous it was and how I could of ended up in Azkaban with Amy. I told him that I didn't care about that, I had to get Remus to safety quickly and then I had to go and rescue Amy. He told me to just wait and that he would go to the Ministry to find out was happening, but I thought by the time he did that, it would be too late. I begged him to take me to Azkaban instead, so I could save Amy but he wouldn't take me there. He just walked away from me, saying that I should come back here and wait for any news. I think he knew that I had no intention of staying here though because as he walked out the door, he told me that even though he loves me, he only has so much power to protect me."

"Wow, this has been a weird day for all of us. I'm sure Kingsley will calm down soon Carissa, he does love you. You guys have been through way too much, he isn't going to walk away over that." Amy tried comforting her friend.

"I don't know, it was a pretty shitty thing to do." Carissa admitted.

"What did Tonks think?" Sirius asked randomly.

"She agreed with me. We were as careful as we could be and there were some risks, but it was safer for Remus to go by car." Carissa answered.

"So two votes to one then. You had every right to go ahead and do it." Sirius pointed out.

"I still feel a bit bad about it though, I'm really going to have to make it up to him." Carissa said.

"You will be fine. You don't need to worry about it, he will turn up here tonight and you will be back normal." Amy said, patting her friend on the back "Now if you both don't mind, I wouldn't mind having a shower. I know you cleaned me up Muttley but I feel like I need to have a good scrub. Laying in a dumpster does not help ones confidence over their personal hygiene."

"Actually I need to have one as well, I need to clear my thoughts and prepare myself for when I see Kingsley next. I don't think it is going to be a happy conversation." Carissa grumbled.

"Carissa! You will be fine." Amy repeated.

"No I won't, I may have just lost the best thing that ever happened to me. I need to be prepared for my heart to be torn out from me again. Not something that I am looking forward to." Carissa continued to think the worst.

"Carissa even if you were seen and end up being charged by the Ministry, you can stay here with Amy and me. You know that I won't mind Kingsley staying here either. Plus he isn't going to walk away from you over something like this, even I know that." Sirius spoke and then added cheekily "Just make sure you put a silencing charm on the door when you finally do make up, I don't want to hear you pair going at it like rabbits."

Carissa laughed "Thanks Sirius, I needed a laugh after today. I really need to go and have this shower though. Amy, try not to do anything much for the rest of the day, maybe just keep resting. I'm glad you are safe but I'll still come back in and check on you later."

Once Carissa left the room, Sirius turned back to Amy and said "I know I joke around a lot with you and with other people Amy. It takes a lot for me to open up to people especially after my past but I need to tell you this Amy. I need to tell you how I felt today. When I saw you on the ground like that, it was like my worst nightmare coming true all over again. I felt sick in my stomach and I had this complete sense of dread come over me. I never want to see you like that ever again and I promise that I'm going to do everything in my power to protect you and Harry both. You know the Black family history, we have a lot of power behind us especially in the Wizengamot. If my name is ever cleared, I'm going to take that opportunity to stamp out all the corruption in Ministry and take down all the death eaters one by one. The Black family has always been known as a dark family but from now on we are going to be neutral, we support neither the dark nor light families in Wizengamot. We will support whatever is best for the wizarding world on an individual basis. Fighting fair isn't going to win us this war, we are going to have to start playing dirty which Dumbledore won't like. I need you to stand by me Amy, I can't do this without you because if I end up doing what I intend to, there will be a lot of people in the Order who won't agree with my methods."

"Sirius you know that I'll support you. We can't just wait around like sitting ducks, being slaughtered one by one because our government wants to protect itself. Just promise me one thing though? "Amy asked.

"What's that?"

"Don't let the power corrupt you either. Money breeds power and power breeds corruption after all. I don't want to see you end up like the other officials at the Ministry. I want you to still be the Sirius that I know, the one that I can talk too, and the one that is my friend." Amy pleaded.

"I promise I won't end up like them Amy. I just want to end this fighting, I want to end the discrimination, I want to make our world safe again for you, and for Harry and for everyone we know. The only way I can do that is by using the power that comes with being the head of the House of Black, it scares me to embrace it after so long of running away, but after today I know that's what I have to do." Sirius admitted.

"As long as you are trying to do the right thing Sirius, I'll support you with whatever you need. Now, will you get out of here so I can have a shower?"

"Can I join you?" Sirius asked playfully.

"Muttley, you are going to have to work a lot harder than that before you get to see me naked." Amy retorted with a grin on her face.

"So that's a maybe one day then?" Sirius asked raising his eyebrows at her.

"Maybe one day, if you play your cards right." Amy teased.

"I look forward to it" Sirius said as he got up and left the room.

Amy sighed, what was wrong with her? She wasn't meant to be encouraging him with his flirting. The man hadn't been with a women in Merlin knows how many years, of course he was going to be attracted to her but that didn't mean she should encourage his advances. Deep down Amy knew there was more to it than that though. It wasn't just the mutual attraction. They understood each other, they had a friendship almost as close as what she had with Carissa and they both would be lost without each other. Amy knew she would be absolutely devastated if something happened to Sirius and judging by his reaction today, he felt the same way about her.

Amy suddenly had a thought, could her feelings be turning from friendship into ones of love? Had she been slowly falling in love with Sirius? She knew that she shouldn't be, her brain had warned her so many times that it was a bad idea. There was so much that could go wrong and she should be pushing all of these thoughts out of her head.

Her heart disagreed with her head though. It wanted him to kiss her, and it wanted him to tell her that he loved her and that she was the only one for him. Her heart didn't care that he couldn't take her out to places or that if they were together,she may never be able to tell anyone about him. Her heart just wanted her to be around Sirius even if it meant that this was the only place they could be together.

Amy groaned, why out of all people did she have to choose Sirius to fall for? Was it possible to stop yourself falling for someone? There was no way she could tell Sirius how she felt, not yet anyway. She just hoped that she didn't make an idiot out of herself in the process of trying to hide her true feelings from him.

**A/N- So we finally have Amy acknowledging her feelings but how long can she keep them hidden from Sirius? There's trouble in paradise for Carissa and Kingsley, can this pair of lovebirds sort it out or will they walk away from each other, leaving both of them heartbroken once again?**

**Until next time, stay safe everyone xxx**


	19. Someone Has To Take Control

**A/N – Thankyou to everyone for their reviews, I love getting them. I am trying to update as fast as I can, but unfortunately I don't have as much time to write as I would like. I know that the story isn't the best written but I am still really proud of it and how my characters have developed. I want to continue to write this story with the passion that I started off with and feel that if I rush it too fast, the story itself will suffer. I know it's taking a long time, but I do intend on finishing it and I would like to see all my lovely readers continue on this journey with me. Thankyou so much for all your reviews and encouragement.**

**This is my longest chapter yet, I didn't intend it to be this long but I needed to get a lot of information out in this one. As usual all characters belong to JK Rowling.**

**Previously-** Was it possible to stop yourself falling for someone? There was no way she was going to tell Sirius how she felt, not yet anyway. She just hoped that she didn't make an idiot out of herself in the process of trying to hide her true feelings from him.

**Chapter 19- Someone Has To Take Control**

"It's been four day's Amy," Carissa complained as she rested her head on the table in front of her.

"Relax, you heard what Dumbledore told us when he saw us after the attack. The Ministry is in meltdown over Voldemort being back, which means everyone is working overtime, including Kingsley," Amy tried reassuring her friend, as they waited for the rest of the Order to arrive for their latest meeting.

"But he hasn't even been home! I've been practically stalking his house trying to catch him but he is never there," Carissa argued.

"That's because he is overworked and decided it was best to sleep at the Ministry for a few hours each night before starting work again. He told you all of this in his letter, remember?" Amy continued trying to calm Carissa down.

"But what if that's all lies and he just doesn't want to see me anymore. Or what if it's not work that is keeping him back, what if it's some little hussy keeping him back?' Carissa cried.

Amy was starting to get really worried about Carissa, she never acted like this. Carissa was always so confident in herself and Kingsley, even when they weren't together Kingsley was the person Carissa trusted the most, besides Amy. That was part of the reason why she never dated anyone else for very long, other men just couldn't compete with Kingsley in Carissa's mind.

"You know very well that he would never cheat on you, that isn't Kingsley. Why are you torturing yourself over this?" Amy asked, trying to get the real reason for her friend's sudden change in behaviour.

Carissa lifted her head off the table "I don't know Amy, maybe it is the stress of everything taking its toll on me. I've had limited contact with Kingsley since he left me at the hospital, I've been reading the articles The Daily Prophet has been printing about you and Sirius and some of those aren't exactly kind to either of you. There is a lot of speculation running wild and until the Ministry comes out with a proper explanation over what happened, your name continues getting dragged through the mud. Plus I've been clashing with Dolores Umbridge the new Defence teacher at Hogwarts. She is completely incompetent at doing her own job but like's to criticise everyone else's teaching style. She hasn't even been teaching the kids anything useful. I've been helping Harry and his friends practice defence in our classroom when I can, but there is only so much that I can do with that bitch around," Carissa let all her worries out

"You don't need to worry about me Carissa, I don't care what they say about me. The people who I care about the most, know who I am and don't believe that rubbish. Plus that is great that you're helping the kids out with their defence techniques. Maybe if the bitch is that bad Dumbledore will sack her and you could eventually apply for her position, if you want to. As for Kingsley, once things settled down at the Ministry, he will be at your side in a heartbeat," Amy replied as best as she could, this whole saga was obviously taking it's toll on Carissa because she was definitely was not acting like her normal self.

"I know that. I'd just be a lot calmer if I could see Kingsley face to face, to find out what he really is thinking. It's hard to tell through letters," Carissa admitted.

Amy went to reply but was interrupted by Sirius as he entered the room "Look at you pair, in here early. What are you up to?", then adding,"If it's something naughty, you can count me in."

Amy took a deep breath, she was sure that Sirius was trying to drive her insane. He had told her that from now on at Order meetings he was going to start dressing like the Head of the Black family should, but she had thought he was joking. She had never been so wrong in her entire life. He had decided to wear a dark blue fitted shirt, with a silver tie and black suit pants with his black dress robe over the top. Amy had to resist fanning herself, the man looked sexy as hell.

There was something else about him though, it wasn't just his heathy appearance and how handsome he still looked despite Azkaban ageing him. It was like he was radiating power from him that hadn't been there before. It was almost like he was back to his pre- Azkaban days, she had heard that all Black family members had a sense of power around them to some degree but she had never imagined this.

"Never mind us, why are you dressed so fancy?" asked Carissa, who had no idea what Sirius had been planning.

"As the Head of the Most Ancient and Noble House of Black, I have decided that at meetings from now on, I should look like someone befitting my status. Even if I am stuck in this place and can't go anywhere else." Sirius proclaimed as he sat down next to Amy.

"Who are you and what have you done with the Sirius we know?" Carissa questioned, very surprised by his behaviour.

"Still the same person you know, it's just now I have a valid reason to accept my position of responsibility in the world. When I was younger my family hated me so much that I never wanted to have anything to do with them, then we had the war and that took away everything that I ever loved. After Voldemort returned and I was forced to stay here, I resented everyone. My family, the Ministry, even the Order and Dumbledore, I was locked here because of them and deep down I actually hated them for it. All these people had in some way or another contributed to driving me to the brink of madness. But then you two came along, I got to spend time with Harry and I kept pushing through each day even if I felt like I couldn't go on. I started feeling better about myself and the things I could do for Harry, I stopped hearing all the negatives about myself and found some joy in this place for the first time in years. I am the best person to protect Harry, because I don't give a shit about what a prophecy says. I will do whatever I can to kill Voldemort myself before he gets anywhere near Harry. I will not have Harry raised like a lamb to slaughter because the Order says so or because some old bat 15 years ago said it would happen. If I ever get out of this place, I intend to shake the whole Ministry up and there are going to be a lot of people who will pay for what they have done to me and to my godson." Sirius said fiercely.

"Remind me never to get on your bad side Sirius, you look and sound kind of scary when you talk like that." Carissa commented

"You two are the reason why I got to see Harry and why my house isn't a dark, depressing dump anymore. I could never hate either of you. Plus, why on Earth would I want to kick two beautiful ladies out of my house? I may still be a little crazy but I'm certainly no fool." Sirius replied cheekily.

"You don't need to use your charms on me Sirius, I'm sure there are others that you need to impress more than me. Other women who would gladly like to receive your affection and partake in some naughty activities with you. If naughty activities are what you are looking for." Carissa replied, as she smirked at Amy.

Amy was going to kill Carissa after this, she should not be giving Sirius any more ideas. Sirius was bad enough on his own without anyone else encouraging him.

"That is an interesting piece of information, thank you Miss Stewert for letting me know," Sirius said, he then whispered in Amy's ear, "Carissa wouldn't happen to mean you, would she Amy?"

Amy tried to think of a response but was lost for words. Sirius had the uncanny ability to do this to her, make her flustered and lost words. This was the game that they played. Their friendship was solid and always there but Amy could not deny the sexual tension that surrounded them as well. They could go from talking about something deep and meaningful to being flirty and playful within a second. Yet there was a line neither of them had dared to cross. They had come close to it a few times,but one of them always had the sense to stop before things got out of hand and they both just fell back into their roles as very close friends.

Thankfully for Amy the rest of the Order members had started to enter the room, so she was saved from having to respond to Sirius's question. There were a few curious glances towards Sirius's outfit from some members as well as certain looks of approval, Snape however just glared at him with disgust as usual. It was Hestia who caught Amy's attention though and Amy was not happy about her being around. The women was clearly checking Sirius out, no doubt plotting how she could get her filthy hands on him. Amy felt a rage grow inside her, how dare Hestia look at Sirius like that? She was never around for him before and hadn't cared about him when he was stuck in misery and was going insane. Now that he was looking and feeling better, she wanted everything to do with him.

_Bitch,_ Amy thought.

"I beg your pardon Miss Johnson?" Dumbledore asked, and Amy could hear Sirius laughing beside her.

"Oh nothing, ummm, I just said lack of kitsch. I think this house could do with some kitsch items, don't you agree?" Amy fumbled out, as she realised that she had spoken her thoughts out loud. Most of the Order looked at her like she was crazy since they hadn't heard her, but Dumbledore had a completely different reaction and started agreeing with her.

"Yes, I do love kitsch items too. I would love to add some more into my office but unfortunately I do not have much room left. I don't think that the next headmaster who takes over from me, would appreciate the items as much as I do either. However I do believe this house could do so well with some kitsch items added to the décor."

"Enough, I didn't come here to talk about decorating houses and hosting tea parties." Mad Eye spoke gruffly.

"Really old man, you always struck me as a tea party sort of a person." Carissa replied sarcastically.

"Watch your mouth, whippersnapper." Moody snapped back, but at least he wasn't calling them Death Eaters anymore.

"As much as I do love to talk about decorating, Mad Eye is correct and we should begin the meeting. Firstly I would like to inform you all that Remus is recovering well in hospital and that he will be returning back home tonight. Thank you once again to Amy and Carissa for their quick thinking on getting him to safety. Although stealing a car might not have been ideal, I do believe that was the best option for Remus's safety." There were nods of acknowledgment from around the room but Amy noticed that Kingsley didn't react at all.

"Secondly Amy and Carissa your house is safe from Death Eater attacks. I went their myself and placed protective wards around it so no Death eaters will be able to find it. Carissa, I would still advise caution in going there and would like you to continue to stay here with Amy and Sirius or at Kingsley's place while we have Voldemort and his supporter's on the loose."

"Sorry Sirius, but it looks like I'll be staying here a bit longer than expected." Carissa joked.

Amy looked at Kingsley when Carissa spoke and saw a hint of disappointment when she didn't ask to stay at his place. She concentrated on his aura and was almost blinded how bright his love was for her. Carissa had definitely been worried for nothing. Amy was fairly certain Carissa wouldn't be spending as much of her time here as she thought.

Dumbledore continued speaking,"My next piece of news is very important but I would like Kingsley to explain, as he has been the one working hardest on getting this matter resolved. Kingsley could you please explain the good news?"

As Kingsley stood up Amy noticed that he looked tired and worn out. He had bags under his eyes and they looked bloodshot, probably caused by lack of sleep. His clothes were wrinkled and they looked like he had been sleeping in them, which was probably exactly what he had been doing. Amy was curious to find out why it was him who was putting in all these extra hours, surely they had other workers to help out too?

"Firstly Amy, I managed to sneak your wand out of the Ministry as I did with Sirius's. The fake looks exactly the same," Kingsley said as he handed Amy her wand.

Amy was relieved to have her wand back, Carissa and Sirius had been helping her practice wandless magic but it took a lot of energy out of her and it wasn't as reliable as using her wand. Carissa and Sirius had an easier time learning wandless magic than Amy, but still got tired quickly. Amy had been lucky, wizard's wands were only destroyed after they had their trial and were sentenced to life imprisonment. Sirius only had his original because the auror who took it had done the right thing and filed it away correctly. Everyone had just assumed that someone else had already snapped it after Sirius went to prison. No one ever thought to check that there had been a trial. This was probably a good thing for Sirius in a way, because even if they had found out he hadn't had a trial, the Ministry probably would have destroyed his wand anyway. Kingsley had been sneaky enough to replace their wands with fakes on two separate occasions. How he did it, Amy wasn't sure but he was lot slyer then anyone would ever believe.

"I have some good news to report from the Ministry. Because they have received so many reports of Voldemort returning and due to the deaths of Daniel Greengrass and Sarah Finch, the Ministry cannot deny the truth any longer. They have decided to issue a statement tomorrow confirming Voldemort's return. They will not be saying how he managed to return, since they don't really know themselves, but Fudge will be telling the public that is for safety and security reasons."

There was instant noise as everyone wanted to know more information but Kingsley held up his hand to stop them.

"Sirius and Amy, I have some good news for you as well. As you both know Amelia Bones is the head of the DMLE. Her niece attends Hogwarts with Harry and was there when Voldemort attacked. After all the students were returned to safety, Susan wanted to know why the person who Harry should hate the most, was actually helping to fight Voldemort. Harry must have explained your innocence to Susan and some other students and while some of them still didn't believe him, it turns out that he must have done enough to convince Susan to ask her Aunt for help. Amelia has decided to reopen the case against you and to try and find out the truth. She now knows the Minister tried to cover up Voldemort's return, now she is trying to find out what else he has been covering up. If she finds enough evidence we can prove your innocence and Fudge will have to resign from the Ministry." Kingsley explained.

"Don't you mean proof of guilt? You know that whole innocent until proven guilty thing." Amy was suspicious, why was Amelia only being informed of this now? She could understand why Harry might not have realised who Susan was related to, from what she had heard he wasn't close with anyone much outside of Gryffindor. But Dumbledore had to know who Amelia was and that she was sure to ask her niece about Harry, even if Fudge wanted to live in denial surely a letter to Amelia about looking into all the evidence wouldn't have gone astray. Unless Dumbledore didn't actually want Sirius free and wanted him under his complete control, for some reason. The more Amy thought about it, the more the pieces started to fall into place. If Sirius was on the run, he couldn't take care of Harry and he would do whatever Dumbledore wanted him to for the sake of Harry. While Voldemort commanded loyalty, Dumbledore was happy to manipulate people into joining with him. He was playing them all like a pack of cards, in the guise of it all being for the good of the wizarding world. Even when Amy and Carissa had arrived while it had been a shock to him, Dumbledore had quickly convinced them to stay and work for him under the pretence of helping Sirius. Amy was almost willing to bet that Dumbledore was still going to try and get Harry back to the Dursley's at the end of the school year just to keep him away from Sirius, especially this new Sirius, the one who was so determined to make people pay for what they had done to both Harry and him. Dumbledore may be trying to win the war, but he was certainly keeping things from the Order. It was a matter of what he was hiding from them exactly and which one of them was going to end up dead because of his secrets. Some would say Dumbledore had nearly helped kill Sirius already, keeping him locked up in a house that he had hated, driving him to the brink of insanity and then wondering why the man was so reckless The dementors weren't at Hogwarts anymore, Sirius could of stayed in the Shrieking Shack and no one would know. He would have had to be careful, to not be seen during the day but he could have wandered the grounds at night as Padfoot and he would probably have been in a better state mentally. Sure Sirius had changed now and he was fitter physically and mentally than before, but that was only because of Amy and Carissa.

Kingsley's voice interrupted Amy's thoughts "Because so many people already think that Sirius is guilty, he will have to prove his innocence. If he gets released just because of lack of evidence, it still won't change a lot of peoples mind about him being guilty. If we do this, we need to do properly so there is no room left for them to doubt his story. We already have copies of people's memories that were there on the day of the attack but Sirius I need all of your memories. I need all the ones from you talking with James about changing secret keepers, memories of the night James and Lily died, memories from when Pettigrew escaped again and memories from the train attack. Send all those with a letter explaining everything in detail to Amelia, she should be able to use those to reopen your case. The other thing that is really strange Sirius, is that after your arrest there were no documents of your arrest, or evidence of what happened kept. Even Pettigrew's finger has gone missing."

Amy couldn't hold back any longer "This is utterly ridiculous. What kind of a stupid legal system are you guys running? Who finds someone's finger and automatically thinks, well this person must be dead? Sure, you would be concerned but you would still consider the fact that maybe he escaped and went into hiding because he was so scared that Sirius was still trying to find him. Plus why were all the other Muggles found in one piece but not Pettigrew? Then after arresting Sirius for the alleged murders of these people, you don't even give him a trial, you lose all the evidence and you lock him up and throw away the key. I know that some of you think Muggles are stupid because they don't have magic, well guess what, at least we think for ourselves and question what we are told. This is the exact reason why you have a serial killer and his minions running around in broad daylight. Even Muggle serial killers are given the right to appeal a sentence, you guys don't even give innocent people a chance to prove that they aren't guilty. How many other innocent people have you locked up?"

"Amy, I understand that you are upset but even you know memories can be tampered with," Dumbledore tried to calm her down.

"That is true but even the Wizarding world advances, albeit extremely slowly. There are now people trained to verify if memories have been tampered with, in fact they have just introduced it into the Auror academy for all new recruits to learn. Get one of them in to check out Sirius's memories, they will set him free instantly," Amy argued, she was not going to let them get away with it this time.

"Amy is right, I just missed out on receiving the training this time but I receive mine next month. All the new recruits are automatically receiving it through the academy. Not that we are getting many new recruits anyway, there seem to less and less every year but nobody can work out why," Tonks confirmed.

"Very well then, I can't see any other issues to stop Sirius from contacting Amelia," Dumbledore conceded.

"I have a few questions first before I go ahead with anything." Sirius stood up from his chair. "If I send these memories through and I get a trial, are they are going to want me to hand myself in to the Ministry? How much torture are they going to put me through this time? Do they still use water torture or is it the Unforgivables now? What about Amy, if she hands herself in? Are you going to be the ones that sit there and force the water down her throat until she can no longer breathe? Will it be you Tonks or you Kingsley that gives Amy the fear of being under water because it brings back the feeling of drowning? Half the struggle I went through escaping Azkaban was swimming across the North Sea because even as a dog I couldn't completely get rid of the fear. What about the Unforgivables? I remember the aurors being fond of using those to get information too. In fact the Aurors that arrested me were no better than the filth that I had to call my mother, when it came to using an unforgivable as a punishment anyway"

To Amy's surprise Sirius had said the whole thing calmly, as if he was reading it about someone else and not reliving the memories of it all.

The whole room was silent and Amy shook her head. No one had obviously taken the time to find out anything about Sirius and his time in Azkaban. They sat here in his house pretending they cared, but no one had ever thought that people don't just walk away from that place, not without some sort of mental health issues.

"We do not use torture, nor have I ever used torture on someone." Kingsley's voice boomed across the room

"Neither have I Sirius, you know we wouldn't." Tonks looked upset at the thought of it.

"How came Amy was being taken to the same house I was tortured at then? Or is that just where Auror Gibbon takes his ex-girlfriends and tortures them when they break up with him? "Sirius said icily.

"He didn't torture me Sirius, remember I got away before I even stepped inside that house?" Amy reminded Sirius.

"It doesn't matter Amy, I know what I went through there and I'm not going to let you go through that," Sirius answered, looking down at Amy. There was something in his eyes that told her, this man was telling the truth when he said that he would do anything for her. Amy was pretty sure that she had gained his loyalty and trust quicker then most of the other people in this room. The same thing went for her, the trust she had in him after only knowing him a short time was unexplainable.

"Sirius, the house you are talking about is only used to interview the highly dangerous criminals. We don't use torture and the Ministry has never authorised it, while I've have been there. The only thing I can say, is that we cannot speak for all aurors and we cannot guarantee that there hasn't been rogue aurors that have decided to take matters into their own hands. If you go to trial, I will see if it can go through without you attending it. I should be able to push Amelia to allow just a lawyer to represent you. Obviously there a risks in sending all your memories in via owl but I can't sneak them in, it's way too risky for me to explain if I get caught. Wands I could explain away easily enough but not having your memories directly on me, they are best off with Amelia. I can't force you into doing this. but I can promise you that I will do my best to get your freedom Sirius. You are going to have to trust Amelia and me to do our jobs."

"What do you think?" Sirius asked as he looked down at Amy again.

"I think Harry would want you to at least try. I think it worth taking the chance as this might be the only opportunity you get. Plus if you get your freedom, you will be able to enter the Wizangamot a lot quicker then what you originally thought you would. Think of it as your first move in a game that you need to control to win. You need to win this game Sirius, if not for your own sake, for Harry's." Amy advised.

Sirius smiled gratefully at Amy, he now had his confirmation that he was doing the right thing "Kingsley, I'll send a letter and the memories through to Amelia. I'll word it carefully enough so nothing can get traced back to you. I'm also going to send a letter to Fudge, as much as he is an incompetent fool, there are laws he can use to stop the trial if he really wants to. I'm going to make sure he has an incentive to make sure this trial goes through."

"How do you intend to do that, if I may ask?" Dumbledore queried and Amy could tell that he was starting to feel uncomfortable with how things were heading.

"With money. I have a lot more money than any of the richest death eaters. If he allows the trial to go through, the Ministry gets 100,000 gallons to go towards extra security whether I'm found guilty or innocent. If I am found innocent, I will support the Minister in the Wizangamot and publicly declare that I bare no ill will towards him over the past, especially since he wasn't the minister in charge at the time of my arrest. I can always make allies in the Wizangamot later to kick him out, once he has served his purpose. I've reclaimed the title of Lord Black, I can take control the whole government if I have to." Sirius grinned slyly as he showed them the Black family ring.

Amy did the calculations in her head that was almost £500,000 towards the Ministry. She couldn't believe it, she knew the Blacks were rich, but she always forgot exactly how rich they were. Even if she sold her house, she would never have that much money in her bank account.

"Do you really think a bribe is the best solution to this matter? Or that it would set a good example for Harry?" Amy could see Dumbledore was getting so worried that he was playing the Harry card.

"I think Harry would do this exact same thing himself, if he had the power to do it. You know yourself Albus that Harry and company have never been the type of people to play by the rules all the time. Even Hermione has broken the rules to help her friends when they need her. I'm sure they won't mind me bending the rules a little. After all the alternative is stay stuck in this house for the rest of my life. Kingsley, can I still choose anyone to represent me in the trial, even retired defence lawyers?" Sirius asked.

"Sirius, you could defend yourself if you wanted to. You are entitled to choose anyone to represent you," Kingsley answered.

"Good, I'll inform Amelia that I will be asking Andromeda Tonks to represent me. If she chooses not to help, I'll be asking Abel Goldstein or Justin Macmillan from Goldstein and Macmillan lawyers to represent me. They used to be my father's lawyers, so I know they are good," Sirius confirmed his intentions, as he sat back down in his chair.

"What if they are no longer alive?" Kingsley asked, wanting to make sure they had everything covered.

"They wouldn't have let the business close down. I'll have to take whoever they trained to takeover, if necessary. Those two trained Andromeda, so I know whoever took over from them will be just as good," Sirius replied.

"If I may interrupt Sirius, I could represent you myself." Dumbledore suggested. Amy suppressed a smile, another reason for Sirius to owe Dumbledore. If Dumbledore represented him and they won, Dumbledore could hold it over Sirius's head. It also made Amy wonder what else Dumbledore held over everyone here, she knew he held allowing Remus to attend Hogwarts with his condition over him and Mundungus got let off with so many warnings from Tonks and Kingsley, if he didn't help the Order he would surely be doing time in Azkaban. Amy then looked at Snape, there was no way Snape was here of his own accord. There was more to that story then he made a mistake and was now an informant. Amy filed that bit of information away in the back of her head, if Snape ever gave her trouble, she could always pull it back out. Dumbledore probably knew exactly what to say to every one in the Order, to get them to act or behave how he wanted them to.

"Sorry Albus, but this needs to be handled the way the Black family would handle it. I'm not leaving anything to chance. Also whoever represents me, will also represent Amy," Sirius said.

"Sirius, I don't mean to be a pain but you know I can't afford to pay for expensive lawyers," Amy reminded him.

"You're not paying for it Amy, I am the reason why you have no job and are struggling to work out how to pay your bills. This is the least I can do in return for what both you and Carissa have done, for not only me but the Order as well," Sirius insisted.

"Sirius, I can't let you do that," Amy argued

"Amy, I'm not arguing with you over this. I'm paying for you to get the best legal representation around because I'm not going to take any chances with you. I'll do anything I can to keep you out of Azkaban," Sirius stated firmly.

"It seems like you have it all planned out." Kingsley commented.

"Kingsley, I've spent years waiting for this chance. I'm not going to let anyone fuck it up for me now," replied Sirius.

"Kingsley nodded "Your case is going to be the hardest part Sirius. Amy, if we can run your trial after Sirius's, we should be able to drop most of the charges."

"What do you mean most of the charges?" Sirius frowned at Kingsley's statement.

"Most people believe that Amy was forced into helping you at the station, however they don't understand why she ran away from Ainsley. They think Amy was hiding something else and that's why she didn't want to get questioned by the Ministry. It doesn't help that Ainsley claims Amy deliberately assaulted him." Kingsley explained.

"It was self-defence!" Amy, Carissa and Sirius all yelled together.

"Do you want my memories? It will show a different story to what Ainsley is saying. He hit me twice before I even touched him and technically I never actually laid a hand on him." Amy added.

"What?" Kingsley seemed surprised.

"My hands were tied behind my back Kingsley, I never technically hit him," Amy repeated.

"Then what did you do?" Kingsley asked looking confused.

"Head butted and kicked him," Amy grinned at Kingsley.

"Can you send those memories through along with a letter to Amelia explaining that you were afraid that they weren't going to listen to you, and that is why you tried escaping? Also maybe write that you only hurt Ainsley because you weren't sure what he was going to do to you and you were just trying to get to safety. Both you and Sirius need to get your stories straight on how Sirius made you fight with him. I would suggest that you blame it on pure fear and you just did what he said because you were so scared of him. Remember to make sure the memories either of you send through, don't show any possibility of you knowing each other before hand," Kingsley sat back down, looking exhausted.

"Thank you Kingsley. Now on to other matters, since the attack Sirius and Amy have become Voldemort's second and third most wanted people behind Harry. Needless to say if you do get a trial and are found not guilty, please be careful. I wouldn't like to see you set free only to have you taken away from Harry again. Severus have you seen or heard a word from Voldemort since the attack?" Dumbledore took over the meeting again.

"Nothing, while we were all informed of the attack, it was only told to us a few hours before hand. He only wanted to take a few members that he could afford to lose. He wanted me to stay behind so I could stay close to you." Snape informed them.

"Wait a minute, you knew of the attack?" Amy exclaimed.

"Obviously,"sneered Snape

"And you didn't think that maybe we should of been informed?" Amy questioned.

"Well, wasn't it a good thing you and your mutt were there to save the day,"drawled Snape.

"You fucking asshole, Sirius saved all of those kids out there. You left them to defend themselves, when as a teacher it is your responsibility to protect them. All of them, not just your death eater kids. I noticed that they all got the memo not to attend," Amy yelled.

"How dare you talk to me about responsibility, when you can't even leave this house because you are a wanted felon. You don't even have a place to call home." Snape sneered.

"Really, that is the best you have. I have a lot more places to call home, then you ever will. I could disappear from this shitty world in a heartbeat and you would never find me," Amy snapped back as she jumped up out of her chair

"Well, why don't you and the fleabag do us all a favour and disappear back into the muggle world for good. No one would miss you," Snape snarled.

Amy was really starting to dislike this guy, she had tried not to judge him just on what Sirius hold told her but it was hard to find any redeeming qualities about him. He may be on their side and not evil but he was still obviously a bitter and resentful man. Amy was his new target mostly because of her closeness with Sirius but also the fact that she wasn't going to stand idly by and let Harry think it was ok for adults to treat him like shit. She had heard of the things that Snape had said to Hermione and Harry's other friend Neville, and they were certainly not what any half decent teacher would say to his students. When she eventually got to Hogwarts she was going to make sure he started teaching all students fairly, she just wasn't sure how she could do that yet.

"I could leave Snivellus, but then I wouldn't want to give you the satisfaction. I'm going to be at Hogwarts and I'm going to stay there for a very long time. You better get used to my pretty face because you are going to be seeing a lot of it," Amy replied.

Amy knew it was an awful thing to bring up his past like that, but it just sort of popped out. Plus even after Sirius had nearly killed him when Amy and Carissa had first arrived, Snape still insisted on trying to cause trouble. Amy was usually a pretty passive person and tried her hardest not to get into arguments if she could avoid them, but Snape honestly just made her want to slap him.

"I would be very careful Miss Johnson, Hogwarts is a dangerous place and we wouldn't want you to accidently hurt yourself," Snape threatened.

"Enough, can you both please stop this? We cannot have everyone in the Order fighting like this. Amy please sit back down," Dumbledore finally interrupted, "Does anyone have anything else to add before we finish the meeting, something more pleasant?"

Amy sat down and Carissa whispered to her, "I think you have been hanging around Sirius too much." Amy just snorted and glanced over at Sirius. He was sitting relaxed in his chair like nothing had happened with a smirk plastered on his face. He was obviously enjoying watching Amy bicker with Snape and had probably smirked at the fact Amy had used his nickname for Snape. When Sirius noticed Amy looking he gave her one of his charming smiles and winked at her, making her heart skip a beat. Amy silently cursed herself as she waited for the meeting to continue, her heart was such a traitor.

"I have something to say," Molly said and she stood up "I just want to say thank you once again to Amy and Sirius. Without them, I could possibly be burying one of my children now and that's something I can't bear to think about. I have already lost my brothers in the last war, I don't want to lose any of my children in this one. Sirius, I know that I had unfairly judged you based only on the fact you had been to Azkaban and were too immature for my liking to take care of Harry. What I didn't realise, was that you would time and time again risk your life to protect Harry and would do whatever you could to keep him safe. Ginny also admitted over the break, how much your reassurances that Voldemort was not part of who she was as a person, have helped her. She also told me how you made her feel like she was a good person and that just because Voldemort had controlled her once, it didn't mean he could do it again. I think we have all seen a change in you Sirius, a change for the better. Perhaps if some of us had actually bothered to take notice of what was really going on in this house before, we could have helped you instead of just assuming that you were okay and were just being immature for the sake of it. Amy and Carissa, you ladies deserve an enormous amount of credit for showing us all the things we choose not to see. Without you both, it was quite possible things may have turned out worse for our family and friends."

Sirius stood up and started talking, "Thank you Molly, I do appreciate your kind words and I wholeheartedly accept your apology. I understand that you are just trying to get through this thing without losing one of your children and that you try to look after all of us from the goodness of your own heart. I too am grateful that Amy and Carissa have decided to stay with the Order as well, without them many people including myself may not be walking around today. I just hope the rest of you can learn to trust these two as much as I do. In fact, I will say it now and I truly mean this. I trust Amy as much as I trusted James. I may not have known her for as long as I did James, but she has proven to me beyond doubt that she is loyal to both Harry and I."

Amy was shocked and surprised at what Sirius had said and she was fairly sure that she wasn't the only one. She knew that James and Sirius had been like conjoined twins at Hogwarts and that was a massive statement for Sirius to make. Sirius was basically saying that Amy was the first person that he completely trusted since James and Lily had died. The other thing that Amy noticed was Sirius had never said that she was loyal to the Order, he had only said that she was loyal to Harry and Sirius. Which was the truth, if Sirius took Harry and ran away from the Order, she would help him and not the Order. Sometimes she wondered, if she was forced to choose between Carissa and Sirius, who would she choose? It had always been Carissa over any boyfriend that she had, but now Amy wasn't so sure. She would still do anything she could for Carissa but if that meant somehow betraying Sirius, then it would be the first time in their friendship that Amy would tell her no. She didn't know how or when it happened but her feelings were stronger then she had ever felt for anyone before.

Amy saw Molly wipe tears away from eyes as she sat back down. Amy had to give Sirius credit, he had managed to turn Molly from thinking he was too much of a bad influence on Harry, to thinking that maybe he was the person Harry needed the most right now. He was playing all his cards right at the moment.

"Thank you Molly and Sirius for those sentiments. If nobody else wishes to add anything, we can adjourn this meeting," Dumbledore declared.

As everyone got up to leave Molly came over to Amy as she stood up and hugged her. Amy wasn't sure why Molly was hugging her so she asked "Are you okay Molly?"

"Yes Amy, it's just you have done so much to help us and we are so grateful to you for it. I hope Kingsley can help get you out of this mess, so you can get your life back together," Molly answered.

"I'm pretty confident that with Kingsley and Sirius working together, I will be fine. My main concern is that Sirius gets a fair trial," Amy admitted.

"I hope so too and another thing my dear, don't be frightened to tell him how you really feel," Molly nodded knowingly towards Sirius who was currently talking to Hestia.

"We are just good friends, that is all Molly," Amy tried to explain.

"You don't have to explain anything to me, Amy. A mother can sense these things, you two take your time but don't be afraid to tell him how you really feel. You are good for him and from what Carissa has told me, she thinks he is good for you. Don't be scared to acknowledge your feelings for each other just because it may not have started as a conventional romance." Molly gave her another quick hug and then left.

Amy was gobsmacked, she would not have guessed Molly would be pushing her and Sirius together. She would have thought that Molly would be telling her to do the opposite. Perhaps Molly's own opinion of Sirius had changed but why did it also feel like everyone in the Order was also trying to set her up with Sirius? Well maybe not everyone, Amy imagined Snape trying to play matchmaker. She laughed when she pictured him reading out a love letter from Sirius to her, the disgust evident on his face as he drawled out the words while he was dressed up as Cupid. Something told her Snape would rather kiss Voldemort before helping Sirius with anything, let alone getting him a girlfriend.

"Why are you laughing?" Carissa asked, coming to stand next to her friend.

"Nothing. Oh look, here comes Kingsley," Amy pointed out as she saw Kingsley walk over towards them.

"Kingsley," Carissa squeaked, not sounding at all like her usual self.

"Carissa," his deep voice not giving anything away.

"I'm so sorry Kingsley, I should have listened to you but I just wanted to." Carissa went to say but Kingsley interrupted her.

"Not here Carissa, I have some other things that I need to talk to you about. Would you like to come back to my place now so we can discuss it before I have to go back to work?'

"Umm sure, is everything ok Lee?" Carissa asked concernedly.

"I think so, but I just really need to talk with you," Kingsley said

"Ok then, Amy I will talk too you later." Carissa gave her friend a quick hug.

"Everything will be ok Carissa," Amy whispered into her friend's ears before she left.

As Carissa and Kingsley left Amy looked around and saw Sirius still talking to Hestia. He seemed to be acting normal but Amy could see that Hestia was laughing as she rubbed Sirius's arm and moved her body in closer towards him. Amy may be an awkward mess when it came to dates but even she could recognise the signs of flirting from the other side of the room. How dare Hestia touch him like that? How dare she pretend to care like that? How dare Hestia think that she could take what was Amy's? But Sirius wasn't Amy's, not really. In fact he wasn't anyone's, not yet anyway.

Amy had two choices, she could make a scene and go and interrupt Hestia, probably revealing her true feelings in the process of making an absolute fool of herself or she could leave the room. Her heart would be a mess but her dignity stay intact. Amy decided on the latter, Sirius was a grown man after all. If he was stupid enough to fall for Hestia's tactics, well that was his problem. She wasn't going to stand around and watch them make googly eyes at each other.

Amy walked out of the room, past Orion's portrait who had conned Tonks into dishing all the gossip to him this time. She stomped up the stairs a little louder than necessarily and slammed the door to her room.

She found her IPod dock and put the music on random. She had to laugh at the irony of the first song being Girls and Boys by Good Charlotte.

_Girls don't like boys, girls like cars and money_

_Boys will laugh at girls when they're not funny_

_And these girls like these boys, like these boys like these girls_

_The girls with the bodies like boys with Ferraris_

_Girls don't like boys, girls like cars and money_

Amy sang along trying to distract herself but it wouldn't work.

"Stupid men, stupid Sirius, stupid Hestia," she cursed as she paced around the room. "I thought he was more intelligent than that."

Amy then felt guilty, it wasn't like Sirius had done anything wrong, and he was just talking to Hestia after all. It wasn't like Amy was his girlfriend, even if everyone else in the Order seemed to think so, well besides Hestia anyway. Amy was still partly convinced the main reason Hestia was still after Sirius besides that fact he was rich and good looking, was because she knew that was how she could hurt Amy the most. The two of them had never gotten along and Amy knew Hestia would love to throw it in her face if Sirius decided he wanted to start fucking her. Merlin knows what Hestia would do to try and destroy Sirius's and Amy's friendship. This was starting to turn into some weird love triangle, except Amy was pretty sure that she was the only person in love at this point. She knew Sirius cared for her and trusted her but did he love her? Probably not and it wasn't fair for her to ask him to reciprocate her feelings, when the man had barely had an opportunity to live his life.

"Stupid me, the one person that I wasn't meant to fall for and I go and do it."

Amy was busy cursing herself when she felt a coldness brush over hand. She went silent for a minute and felt the coldness again. It was the same coldness that had waken her up to help Sirius with his nightmares, not long after she had first met him. Whatever it was had come back again and Amy had no idea why.

"Who is there?" Amy called out as she checked for auras around the room but she couldn't see any colours anywhere.

She felt the coldness touch her hand again. "Think Amy, think. There has to be an explanation."

Then it hit her, only living things had an aura around them. Whatever this was, it certainly wasn't alive so it had to be dead, most likely now a ghost.

"Are you are ghost?" she asked tentatively

The coldness touched her hand again.

"I'll take that as a yes. "

"Are you here trying to harm Sirius or anyone else that comes here?" Amy questioned, even though she really didn't think that this ghost would hurt them. In fact by waking her up, it was more like it had been trying to help Sirius with his nightmares.

Amy waited but there was nothing. "I'll take that as a no. That's a relief, I don't think after the week I've had that I could handle a vengeful ghost after me."

But who was this ghost? Amy looked around and remembered whose room she was staying in. Why on earth would he not have wanted to cross to the other side? If Amy wasn't going to cross over, she would at least go to Hogwarts so she could chat with other people or other ghosts. Why would he stay here, not being able to communicate properly?

Amy took a deep breath, Sirius was going to think she had gone completely bonkers if she was correct, but it was the only thing that made sense.

"Regulus, is that you?"

**A/N- Credit to Good Charlotte for me using the lyrics to Girls and Boys**

**I probably won't get an update before Christmas, so Merry Christmas everyone. Have a Safe and Happy Day. xxx**


End file.
